Votkinsk division. St. George's Banner of the Izhevsk Division
Izhevsk-Votkinsk uprising (08.08. to 14.11.1918)
I can’t sleep from thoughts and visions until the morning:
Target chains again, thunderous "hurray".
They died, how they lived - some in the ditch, some in battle,
We are for our Russia, and they are for theirs...
2008 marks the 90th anniversary of the Izhevsk-Votkinsk uprising, one of the most complex and inherently contradictory phenomena of the Civil War in eastern Russia. For a long time, they preferred not to mention this event in official historiography.
From the very beginning, his dual character caused confusion in both opposing camps. On the one hand, the armed uprising against the “proletarian” power of representatives of the best and most educated part of the working class made it mortally dangerous for Soviet power. On the other hand, the rebels’ declaration of struggle under the banner of defending the gains of the revolution and the power of the Soviets made the rapidly ruling forces of the so-called wary of him. "democratic counter-revolution". And yet, despite the seemingly obvious inevitability of defeat, the Izhevsk-Votkinsk uprising managed to hold out for over three months (from August 8 to November 14, 1918), providing an example of a well-functioning military mechanism. It was he who managed to actually carry out the most difficult task facing any government during this period and which was to create a combat-ready, disciplined, and at the same time volunteer and democratic army. The history of the military path of the Izhevsk and Votkinsk People's Armies is the best evidence of this.
The Izhevsk-Votkinsk phenomenon of 1918 decisively contradicted the officially accepted scheme of unambiguous definitions of both the Civil War in general and the counter-revolution in particular. Meanwhile, a careful reading of the sources that have now become available allows us to get closer to understanding the actual state of affairs. The uniqueness of the events lies in the fact that it was not peasants who opposed Soviet power, but workers.
The fact that the majority of the participants in the uprising continued to fight against the Bolsheviks in the ranks of Admiral Kolchak’s White Army once again confirms the thesis about the broad social base of the Russian White movement. Of course, the status of the Izhevsk and Votkinsk divisions was special. Here the statutory rules and formal relations between commanders and subordinates were not taken into account. Much more important was the trust between officers and soldiers, trust justified by bloody battles and difficult transitions, trust that gave that internal cohesion, the resilience of the ranks of Izhevsk and Votkinsk residents, which even their opponents spoke about. This cohesion, which arose in the August days of the 1918 uprising, remained throughout the difficult years of the civil war and during the long decades of emigration. Having reached Manchuria with Kolchak’s army, they scattered throughout the world - the USA, Canada, the Philippines, Japan, Argentina. Some countries created their own communities, especially large ones in California (USA), where the banner of the Izhevsk division was kept for a long time. The memory of that harsh time is still kept in the families of our fellow countrymen living abroad, descendants of the participants in the uprising, who continued to consider Izhevsk their hometown..
On August 7, 1918, in Izhevsk, the Bolsheviks announced an order to mobilize all former participants in the First World War into the ranks of the Red Army to liberate Kazan from the White Guards. The front-line soldiers refused to obey this order. In response to threats from the Bolsheviks, who promised to shoot the disobedient, the front-line soldiers seized 7,000 rifles from the factory and armed themselves. Colonel Dmitry Ivanovich Fedichkin, a participant in the Russian-Japanese and First World Wars, was appointed to command all armed forces operating against the Bolsheviks.
Civil power in the city, which had hitherto been in the hands of the Bolsheviks, now passed into the hands of the Izhevsk Council of Workers' Deputies, which was dispersed by the Bolsheviks. But two days later, the residents of Izhevsk became convinced that such a cumbersome government body, consisting of 250 people, was absolutely incapable of making quick decisions and orders that were necessary during the uprising.
Therefore, on the third day of the uprising, civil power was transferred to the Prikamsky Committee, which consisted of four members of the All-Russian Constituent Assembly, who met in Izhevsk after the dispersal of the Constituent Assembly by the Bolsheviks.
With the change of power, the method of government also changed both in Izhevsk and in the factories. All public and state institutions and establishments closed by the Bolsheviks in the city began to operate as before, as before the Bolsheviks.
All factory workers and employees fired from factories for antipathy towards the Bolsheviks were again hired to their former places. Trade in bread, prohibited by the Bolsheviks, was allowed.
The state of siege was lifted in the city and peacetime order was introduced. The front-line soldiers, who hated the Red Army, were glad that they escaped mobilization into it.
Having rebelled against the Bolsheviks, Izhevsk, with two of the richest state-owned factories, found itself at the center of well-armed Red Army forces.
The very next day after the uprising, Red Army detachments made attempts to capture Izhevsk. But Colonel Fedichkin formed a detachment of 300 front-line soldiers and successfully repelled the Bolshevik offensive from the Kazan Railway. From the Golyansky tract, Izhevsk was defended by a small detachment of artillery officials under the command of headquarters - Captain Kurakin.
In August 1918, military operations developed successfully for the defenders of Izhevsk.
On August 14, a Red Army detachment of 2,500 infantry men advanced along the Kazan Railway to Izhevsk in trains.
Colonel Fedichkin believed that 300 Izhevsk experienced and disciplined front-line soldiers were ten times better and stronger in battle than the same number of untrained and unbridled Reds. Therefore, he took these 300 front-line soldiers with him and led them to meet the red trains.
6 versts from Izhevsk on the railway line the Izhevsk residents stopped and here they damaged part of the railway track so that the Red trains could not travel further than this place to Izhevsk. Then they set up an ambush in the dense bushes growing on both sides and began to wait for the enemy trains to approach. The residents of Izhevsk did not wait long. Bolshevik trains appeared ahead.
The driver from the front locomotive was the first to notice the destroyed track and, fortunately for the townspeople, stopped the train just where they were expecting it. The residents of Izhevsk did not rush onto the train shouting “Hurray!” because there were too many Reds.
Continuing to hide from the enemy behind the bushes, they accurately shot at the doors and windows of the cars on both sides of the trains, preventing the Bolsheviks from unloading from the cars.
The Bolsheviks realized that the Izhevsk residents had decided to shoot every single one of them in the carriages. I had to hang white rags from the windows. The shooting was stopped. At that moment, 40 Bolsheviks tried to escape from the carriages into the forest, but were caught and disarmed. These turned out to be exactly the people who, with their cruel attitude towards the Izhevsk workers, brought them to an armed uprising. Separately from other captured Red Army soldiers, they were sent to Izhevsk to be massacred by the workers.
On the same day, August 14, the Bolsheviks launched an attack on Izhevsk from the Golyany pier. The Izhevsk headquarters sent there a small detachment of artillery officials under the command of Staff Captain Kurakin. The Reds were forced to retreat.
As a result of the often repeated offensives of the Red Army along the Kazan railway line in trains, Izhevsk residents built a fortified position with a line of full-profile trenches, 12 versts from Izhevsk on the line of this road, on elevated terrain, with a line of trenches of a full profile, for 6 versts along the front, with communication and observation trenches points. All distances to visible objects in front of the position were measured and recorded on tablets in the trenches.
A permanent garrison of 800 people was placed in the trenches, and a reserve was placed two miles from the front line, also in the trenches.
This garrison was commanded by Lieutenant Zebziev, a native Izhevsk resident.
On August 17, 1918, a Red Army detachment of 2,000 infantry, 200 cavalry, and 8 guns advanced again along the railroad from the city of Kazan.
Since the railway track turned out to be dismantled 6 versts from Izhevsk, the detachment disembarked from the cars and unloaded their cannons and machine guns.
The Izhevsk residents hid in their trenches and did not reveal their presence in this position. When the Bolshevik column approached the Izhevsk trenches, the city’s defenders opened fire.
The Bolsheviks, who did not expect anything like this from the Izhevsk workers, began to shoot back and retreat, leaving behind their dead and wounded.
On August 18, a 6,000-strong detachment of Bolsheviks under the command of Antonov approached Izhevsk from the Golyansky tract. He had the strictest orders from Lenin and
Trotsky: “Take the Izhevsk factories at all costs.”
The enemy began to destroy the city with cannons. Shells exploded in the streets. Colonel Fedichkin and 600 Izhevsk residents held back the advance of Antonov’s column only with rifle fire. They didn't have guns. In the city itself, a militia was urgently formed, which moved to help the defenders of Izhevsk. Colonel Fedichkin explained the combat mission to the Izhevsk residents: “Surround the enemy in the forest and destroy them.”
Antonov felt a huge hostile force around him and developed such a fierce fire that the militia had to dig into the ground. By dawn on August 19, the enemy had shot all the ammunition and shells. The shooting died down.
The Izhevsk residents rushed at the exhausted Reds with a loud cry of “hurray” and won. The defenders of Izhevsk in this battle became rich with cannon, machine guns, gold looted by the Bolsheviks and a mass of communist literature, which they immediately burned in the forest.
At the end of this battle, the families of the townspeople met their defenders with the ringing of church bells, with a procession of the cross, with a large choir of cathedral singers singing prayers of thanksgiving to God with tears of joy in their eyes.
In August, a detachment of staff captain Kurakin captured the city of Sarapul, freeing it from Red Army detachments. The peasants provided great assistance to the rebels. They sent delegates to Izhevsk with a request to give them weapons to protect their own lives and property from the plunder of Bolshevik food detachments.
The peasant delegates were received in Izhevsk, and their request was granted. Among the peasants there were soldiers and officers with high combat qualifications during the First World War, which the Izhevsk army lacked. Therefore, Colonel Fedichkin, with the consent of the Committee of Members of the All-Russian Constituent Assembly, ordered the chief of staff, a native Izhevsk resident who knew all his people by sight, to form combat detachments from peasant soldiers and officers, arm them and give them combat missions.
For this help, the peasants undertook to bring bread and food supplies to Izhevsk in the required quantities for the factory workers. The peasants quickly formed large detachments from their companies and began to fervently destroy all the Bolshevik food detachments on their territory and fight against the Red Army detachments, which were not allowed to reach Izhevsk.
Thanks to the wealth of telephone and telegraph lines in the Vyatka province, communication between peasant detachments and the headquarters of the Izhevsk People's Army was maintained continuously.
Along the Northern Railway, between the city of Glazov and the Cheptsy station, the Northern Front was formed over a distance of 150 versts, which within three months completely cleared the Glazov and Sarapul districts of Red Army detachments. On the northern front, 10 detachments of 10,000 peasant soldiers each fought under the common command of Izhevsk captain Zuev and the front chief of staff Captain Mironov. The 3rd Red Army, not receiving any troops from the center against the Izhevsk People's Army, was limited to six regiments formed from local peasants who hated the Bolsheviks.
These six regiments worked excellently in favor of the Izhevsk Army, fulfilling their tasks. They advanced all the time and, defeated, retreated, leaving the Izhevsk residents their cannons, machine guns and the bread and cattle taken from the peasants. Then these regiments were replenished again, armed, attacked again, defeated - retreated, leaving new trophies for the Izhevsk residents. This is how they tried to act until the liquidation of the Izhevsk People’s Army.
At the end of October 1918, the funds of the Izhevsk Army were depleted. All hope of receiving outside help was lost. The Bolsheviks, having captured Samara and Kazan, attacked Colonel Fedichkin’s army from all sides. They cut off all peasant detachments from Izhevsk and surrounded Izhevsk. In addition, the flotilla of Captain Feodosiev, which protected the Kama from the Bolshevik flotilla passing through it, sailed to Ufa without warning the headquarters of the Izhevsk Army about its departure. The path for the Bolsheviks from the Kama side was open, and the Izhevsk army was cut off from the Ufa troops. This was one of the main reasons for the fall of the Kama region and the Izhevsk People's Army.
On October 20, Colonel Fedichkin gathered the Izhevsk administration and the Committee of Members of the All-Russian Constituent Assembly and announced the immediate evacuation of those who could not trust their lives to the Bolsheviks. While it is possible, over the next few days, evacuate women, children and valuable property. In a week, Izhevsk residents will not have a single cartridge or shell, and “we will have to flee from Izhevsk naked across the ice across the Kama River.”
The Chairman of the Committee of Members of the All-Russian Constituent Assembly, Evseev, did not agree with Colonel Fedichkin and called the evacuation statement cowardice.
Then Colonel Fedichkin demanded that the members of the Prikamsky Committee of the All-Russian Constituent Assembly dismiss him due to his poor state of health and send him to the disposal of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Land and Naval Forces of Russia, General Boldyrev. Having received documents from the Committee of Members of the All-Russian Constituent Assembly, Colonel Fedichkin and his personal adjutant Captain Popkov mounted riding horses and rode into the night through the location of the Red troops in the city of Ufa. A few days later, the Bolsheviks entered Izhevsk and shot 400 workers on the square of St. Michael’s Cathedral.
The Izhevsk People's Army with part of the families and peasant detachments, with great difficulty and hardship, somehow made their way to the location of the forces of General Boldyrev.
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Between whites and reds
Izhevsk recently celebrated an anniversary: 85 years ago, on November 7, 1918, units of the Red Army suppressed a revolt of workers at the Izhevsk plant.
The actions of workers, peasants and soldiers during the Civil War against the policies pursued by the Bolsheviks were ignored by Soviet historical science. At best, they received the labels “counter-revolutionary” and “anti-Soviet”; their participants automatically became accomplices of the world bourgeoisie and landowners. In principle, this is understandable, because these events did not fit into the official ideology of the new “workers’ and peasants’” government. They also did not fit into the political doctrines of the whites. This is exactly what the Izhevsk-Votkinsk uprising of 1918 was like.
The reasons for it were the gross mistakes of the “proletarian” government in the policies it pursued. The Bolsheviks did not take into account the uniqueness of local conditions. The proletarians of Izhevsk and Votkinsk were, as a rule, hereditary and highly qualified. Their way of life developed over decades: all workers were literate, provided with permanent work and good income through government orders, and had their own houses with developed subsidiary farming. Hence the close connection with the villagers.
It was all broken. First the First World War, then the February Revolution. Devastation made itself felt. There were fewer and fewer jobs, the standard of living fell, and a rationing system was introduced. After October 1917, all this was aggravated by the miscalculations of the Bolsheviks: attempts to turn the workers' Soviets into bodies obedient to the central government, indiscriminate requisitions of food, arrests and executions, and a suspicious attitude towards indigenous workers.
The uprising began on August 7, 1918, the reason was an unsuccessful attempt to mobilize workers into the Red Army. The goals of the rebels became clear immediately. They did not yearn for the restoration of imperial order. The rebels chose the old composition of the Council of Workers', Peasants' and Soldiers' Deputies, which the Bolsheviks had previously dispersed and retained the trade unions. They chose the red flag as their symbol, and “Varshavyanka” and “Marseillaise” as their anthems.
Factories continued to operate, and production even increased, mainly due to increased labor productivity.
The workers of the Izhevsk plant managed to solve the problem facing any government at that time. They created a strong, combat-ready, and at the same time democratic and voluntary army. Most of the companies had a militia character, meeting only in case of alarm. The rifles stood right next to the machines. Officers, mostly from factories, were elected based on knowledge or personal authority. In addition, outside of combat, everyone was equal, orders from headquarters were discussed collectively, and commanders had no right to disciplinary punishment.
Having created a people's army, the Izhevsk and Votkin residents defeated the legendary Red commanders Antonov-Ovseenko and Blucher in battle. Often the Red Army soldiers themselves handed over their weapons and went over to the side of the factory workers. They saw that they had to fight not with landowners and bourgeoisie, but with ordinary workers and peasants, marching to the sound of an accordion in a bayonet attack - the rebels did not have cartridges, they were obtained in battle. Meanwhile, regiments consisting of Chinese, Hungarian, Latvian internationalists and security officers loyal to the Bolsheviks were gathered under the rebellious plant. The forces were not equal; on November 7, the rebels left the factory city and retreated to Votkinsk. On November 14, the last stronghold of the rebels fell. Up to seventy thousand Izhevsk and Votkinsk residents were able to move to Kolchak across the Kama.
Naturally, the whites were suspicious of the workers. However, the Izhevsk and Votkinsk people established themselves as an excellent fighting force. Kolchak turned a blind eye to many things, including the existence of the Council of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies, a red flag in the Izhevsk division. Discontent was growing among the workers themselves. Watching the robberies and pogroms, the destruction of prisoners, they realized that this was not the kind of democracy they had dreamed of. In addition, the Ural, Siberian and Far Eastern proletarians treated them as traitors to the “cause of the working class.” A lot of Izhevsk residents went to the partisans, to the Red Army, and fled home. Thus, the number of rebels in the ranks of the whites was reduced to several thousand. After the capture of Vladivostok, the remnants of Izhevsk emigrated to Manchuria.
The Izhevsk-Votkinsk uprising of August 7 - November 14, 1918 ended in defeat. Too democratic for the Reds, and too revolutionary for the Whites, it was initially doomed to a tragic ending.
I. Karachev, Izhevsk
In memory of the Izhevsk-Votkinsk uprising. Latvian riflemen against Russian workers.
Battle banner of Izhevsk.
“On August 8, 1918, the Izhevsk-Votkinsk anti-Bolshevik uprising began. The Izhevsk division was formed from workers of the plant of the same name who rebelled against the Bolsheviks in August 1918. In addition to the Izhevsk residents, the workers of the neighboring Votkinsk plant also rebelled against the Bolsheviks, who formed a separate Votkinsk division. Later, the workers of both factories were brought together into a special Izhevsk-Votkinsk brigade.
The uniform colors of Izhevsk and Votkinsk residents were blue (a symbol of connection with their factories - iron and steel) and white (the color of the White Movement).
These units were distinguished by very high combat effectiveness. Contemporaries described the crushing attacks of Izhevsk workers as follows: “They did not recognize the bayonet and, when the moment of hand-to-hand combat came, they threw their rifle on a belt behind their back and took out their long working knives. According to numerous eyewitnesses of these decisive moments of the attack, the Reds could not withstand the mere sight of this manipulation and fled in order to avoid hand-to-hand combat with such a determined enemy. It is interesting to note here that the Izhevsk and Votkinsk divisions remained invincible throughout the Civil War" (see A. Vorobiev. Uprising at the Izhevsk and Votkinsk factories in August 1919. - "Sentry" (Brussels), 1987, No. 663, p. 10 ).
Let us add that in the fall of 1919, the Supreme Ruler of Russia, Admiral Alexander Vasilyevich Kolchak, awarded the Izhevsk division the honorary Banner of St. George - the highest collective award for military valor. Currently, this banner is kept in the Irkutsk Museum of Local Lore. Who stood up to the Russian workers who rose up for their country against a bunch of criminals who imagined themselves to be the authorities?
“In mid-August in the Urals, in the factory towns of Votkinsk and Izhevsk, none other than the workers themselves—workers of state-owned arms factories—revolted against the “worker-peasant” government. On the morning of August 7, armed with rifles captured at the factory, Izhevsk residents rebelled and entered into battle with the Red Army battalion and a detachment of Austrian internationalists. By evening, the Austrian internationalists were destroyed, and the remnants of the Red Army battalion fled from the city.
The organizer of the uprising, non-commissioned officer Oskolkov, addressed the regiment located in Izhevsk at that time. D.I. Fedichkina to take the Izhevsk workers' regiment under his command. August 15th regiment. Fedichkin, having defeated the Red Army garrison in a short battle, captured the Galyana pier and took control of the flow of the Kama, along which the Soviet flotilla was cruising. The commander of the 2nd Soviet Army, Reinhold Berzin, sent a group of Soviet troops to the Galyan area, led by the Ufa Latvian battalion, numbering 500 riflemen and 30 cavalrymen with 26 machine guns. With a swift attack, the Latvians drove the Izhevsk people out of Galyan on August 18 and, together with other red units, launched an attack on Izhevsk. But before the commander of the Latvian battalion, J. Reinfeld, had time to send his riflemen to storm Izhevsk, a new enemy appeared in the rear of his group of troops. Workers in the nearby town of Sarapul, having arrested the entire Sarapul Council and local security officers, formed an anti-Soviet detachment.
At the same time, workers in the neighboring town of Votkinsk also rebelled, who, under the command of Captain Yuriev, struck the flank of the Ufa Latvian battalion and forced it and other Red Army units to retreat to the west.
On September 24, the 7th Bauska armor was sent from Petrograd to eliminate the rebellion of Izhevsk and Votkinsk workers. pp. regiment, Latvian artillery division and cavalry detachment. On September 29, Latvian riflemen landed 100 km north of Votkinsk, at Cheptsa station, from where, joining forces with units of the Special Vyatka Division, they launched an attack on Votkinsk.
At the news that the Latvian riflemen had arrived, the peasants left the villages and fled into the forest, for rumors about their reprisals against the Yaroslavl rebels, about their unwavering loyalty to Lenin, etc., reached these remote places. This was repeated in every village. Of course, the shooters did not kill all the inhabitants and did not burn all the villages, but it was enough that they shot the relatives of the peasants who joined the rebellious workers. Otherwise, the peasants would not be hiding in the forests. The names of the commander of the 7th Bauska lat. pp. regiment Manguls and the Latvian division commander V. Azin, who carried out a bloody massacre in Votkinsk and Izhevsk, after their capture by the Reds, were pronounced here with nothing less than a curse.
October 7, 35 km from Votkinsk, 7th Bauska lat. The rifle regiment and the Special Vyatka Division met with the Votkinsk detachments, commanded by Captain Yuryev. The fighting was fierce and lengthy, with varying degrees of success at first. But over time, well trained and having combat experience in the 1st World War, the Latvian riflemen, using flanking maneuvers and attacking with concentrated forces, began to win victories. The overwhelming number of Votkinsk workers never served in the army because, as those employed in arms factories, they were exempt from military service; They also did not have officers - companies and platoons were commanded by sergeant majors and non-commissioned officers. But in courage and stamina they were not inferior to the shooters. The battle lasted for over a month, only sometimes calming down for a day or two.
At the same time, the 2nd Soviet consolidated division under the command of the old Latvian communist Valdemar Azin was advancing on Izhevsk. The 247th regiment included in this division had two Latvian companies. The regiment was commanded by J. Reinfeld, the former commander of the Ufa Latvian battalion destroyed by the Izhevsk troops. Reinberg was the regimental commissar; the detachment of mounted scouts was commanded by T. Kalnin; 3rd battalion - his brother Zh. Kalnyn; machine gun team - Osis; economic part - communist since 1905 Kondrat. So, although there were only two Latvian companies in the 247th regiment, command posts were mainly occupied by Red Latvians. There were also units of Hungarian internationalists in the 2nd Soviet consolidated division.
On November 7, divisional commander V. Azin threw his division into the assault on Izhevsk. The alarm sounded in the city. The entire population rose to defend their hometown. Izhevsk workers rushed into a counterattack, but in the first battle they lost over 800 killed. The battle lasted three days, but the Izhevsk residents could not repel the red regiments, abundantly supplied with machine guns and artillery. On November 9, Azin himself rushed to break through the defense in an armored train, mowing down the city’s defenders with machine guns. On November 10, under the cover of darkness, work detachments, along with part of the population, left the city.
In the morning, divisional commander V. Azin began a bloody massacre of the population remaining in Izhevsk. Relatives of disobedient workers, including old men and women, were shot on the first day by order of V. Azin. The Yaroslavl bloodbath was repeated. For the capture of Izhevsk, V. Azin was awarded the Order of the Red Banner.
These two provisions about the decisive role of the Latvian riflemen in the suppression of the Izhevsk Uprising and their subsequent direct participation in the Red Terror remain a commonplace even in recent works on the Uprising. So, in particular, A.A. Sheptalin claims that “the most loyal and combat-ready forces of the Red Army were sent to suppress the uprising, half of which were “internationalists” who were particularly cruel - units of Latvian and Chinese riflemen, as well as mercenaries from former prisoners of war Hungarians, Austrians, Germans and Turks.” He is echoed by A.A. Petrov: “The Izhevsk workers had no choice but to launch a massive, cartridgeless bayonet attack at the sound of the factory whistle on the morning of November 7. Only the fortitude of Cheverev’s Latvian regiment saved Azin from a completely unexpected and crushing defeat.”
Former journalist of the rebel publications “Izhevsky Defender”, “People’s Power” and others, Anatoly Gutman-Gan writes: “Bolshevik terror fell on Sarapul with all its force. Sailor Vorozhtsov and Commissioner Sedelnikov personally came to the prison at night and shot the victims identified according to pre-compiled lists. Everyone who went to prison knew that, in all likelihood, he would never come out. After nightly bloody orgies, the remaining prisoners were forced to wash the floors and walls of the prison, spattered with blood. In June 1918, following a denunciation from his own workers, Sarapul tannery David Usherenko and his two sons, students of the local real school, were arrested. He was charged with possession of a weapon. For several days, he and the arrested boys were mercilessly tormented and tortured. Finally, at night, sailors arrived at the prison, brutally killed them, and their corpses, completely disfigured, were thrown into the Kama.
Bloody terror, continues Gutman-Gan, also reigned in the Izhevsk plant, located 70 versts from Sarapul. There was no Cheka here, but her duties were performed by the local executive committee. Here they killed not only the intelligentsia, but also peasants and workers suspected of counter-revolution. In villages and villages, Latvian commissars sent from the centers carried out executions and requisitions of bread, honey, butter, eggs and livestock. The headquarters of the 2nd Red Army were concentrated in Sarapul. At that time, the main Bolshevik forces operating here were Latvians, Magyars, Chinese and very few Russian soldiers - the remnants of the old army."
In the book of memoirs of the legendary Izhevsk commander, General V. M. Molchanov, when describing the events of the spring of 1919, it is testified: “When I arrived on the front line of the Second Regiment (we are talking about the Izhevsk division and the famous Izhevsk attack - to the accordion, with nurse Lida Popova dancing in front ), I discovered that we were opposed by a regiment of first-class Red fighters, the Third International Regiment. It was a particularly trusted fighting unit of the Red Army, which consisted of Chinese, Latvians, Hungarians, Communists, and I think a number of Germans."
In the same tone as both his commanders - Fedichkin and Molchanov, he considers the Latvian theme in his memoirs, which were published in 1975 in San Francisco, and an ordinary participant in those events V.M. Naumov.
“Our detachment began to carry out reconnaissance. Not far from the village, we noticed a cavalry detachment approaching us, much larger than ours. As they approached, they shouted, “Who’s coming?” We answered, “Ours,” and, approaching closely, we unseated their Latvian commissar. The detachment immediately turned back. The commissar we captured in that first skirmish was sentenced to death. How did it happen - did the guards let him go, or did he manage to escape when they were leading him through the forest, in any case, he was later in our village, when we had already left for the Kama, he was at the head of the red detachments.”
“At this time, Izhevsk and Votkinsk,” continues Naumov, “kept in touch and acted in full contact. Echelons were sent from Petrograd to our front, mainly detachments of Latvians and Magyars were sent, but there were also several companies consisting exclusively of Chinese. Now, looking into that distant past, it becomes clear why exactly such detachments were sent to Izhevsk and Votkinsk from red Petrograd; It was dangerous to send Russian detachments against the rebellious Russian workers, and the Magyars, Latvians and Chinese were all a hired “army”, ready to go against anyone. The Latvians and Magyars held out very steadfastly, but the Chinese were literally no good in battles, many of them died during the battles and were sunk in the Kama.”
Participant of the Izhevsk-Votkinsk uprising, in September-October 1918, commander of the Izhevsk Rifle Regiment, subsequently commander of the Izhevsk-Votkinsk Brigade A.G. Efimov recalled: “On this day, the offensive of large Red forces began from the direction of Galyana. This time they collected everything capable of combat from their 2nd Army and sent about 6,000 soldiers to Izhevsk with eight 3-inch cannons, two field howitzers and 32 machine guns. The detachment included a significant number of communists and Latvians and Magyars loyal to the Reds."
“Intensified preparations were underway in the red camp to suppress the uprising of Izhevsk and Votkinsk residents. The defeat, flight and complete collapse of the 2nd Red Army and the obvious sympathy and assistance of the peasants to the rebel workers made the uprising extremely dangerous for the Red government. The unreliability of those mobilized from the local population forced troops to be sent from the center of the country. Perseverance in military clashes required the sending of especially persistent units made up of communists, from “cheka” detachments, from Latvians and Chinese.... The detachments of mercenary foreigners in their cruelty did not differ from home-grown communists, and the struggle took on a ferocious, bloody character with heavy losses at both sides.
Izhevsk residents who were on the “Northern” Front recalled how they had to deal with some kind of international regiment, in which all the soldiers were dressed in red shirts. Heavily intoxicated, they, singing “The Internationale”, which turned into a wild roar as they approached, rushed at their enemy, suffered heavy losses, but repeated the attacks several times...” The stubbornly fighting Red detachment consisted of Latvians. The main forces of Second Lieutenant Vershinin’s group and the left outflanking company did not have time to take part in the battle. But the Reds opened fire on the column of the main forces following the road from the direction of the village of Yakshur-Badya.”
Around this time (according to other sources, it was earlier), Lieutenant Drobinin near the village of Mishkino dealt a crushing blow to the 4th Latvian Regiment, capturing several guns, machine guns and many prisoners and sending the Red Latvians into a hasty flight.
After holding out for more than a month, Kazan was captured by the Reds. They did not undertake an energetic pursuit of the retreating Kazan garrison, and it quite calmly crossed the Kama River near the village of Epanchino near Laishev. The Red troops, liberated near Kazan, sent them against the Izhevsk and Votkinsk people, in a hurry to put an end to the uprising. First of all, Azin's detachment, which formed the 2nd Consolidated Division (later the 28th), and the Latvian regiments were transferred. The 4th Latvian regiment, as noted earlier, was defeated by the Votkinsk troops, and the 5th Latvian regiment, which was badly damaged during the capture of Kazan by Colonel Kappel, apparently acted from the direction of the city of Glazov.”
“The fact of the Izhevsk uprising caused confusion in the Soviet ranks. This was a terrible blow to the heart of Soviet power. After all, it was not the officers and generals of the old army, nor the capitalists or the urban bourgeoisie who rebelled in Izhevsk. Workers and peasants rebelled against the “workers’ and peasants’ power.”
The Izhevsk uprising in the rear of the Kazan group of red detachments was a fatal blow; it threatened to cut off the Soviet army, which was operating on Vyatka, Kama, and Belaya, from the Kazan base. Therefore, in Moscow, the news of the Izhevsk uprising caused panic. Trotsky's hysterical orders rained down “raze treacherous Izhevsk and Votkinsk to the ground”, “mercilessly destroy the residents of Izhevsk and Votkinsk with their families”. Communist and Latvian units were sent out from Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Kazan, receiving the task of clearing the Izhevsk-Votkinsk region of whites at all costs.
There was a strong armed flotilla of the Reds in Sarapul, and there were also many Latvian units. Throughout August, the Reds repeatedly made attempts to land troops on the piers of Golyany and Galevo, intending from there to launch an attack on Izhevsk and Votkinsk, but all these operations ended in failure: the Reds were not able to resist the inspired and brave Izhevsk and Votkinsk residents. Under such unfavorable conditions, the rebel army had to endure continuous battles with the Reds. It was especially difficult for the residents of Votkinsk, who were attacked from both sides by Chinese-Latvian detachments. The Latvians drove the forcibly mobilized peasants on the offensive, placing machine guns in the rear. At this moment, the Reds surrounded Izhevsk and launched a decisive attack on the city from two sides. The headquarters and part of the detachments barely managed to escape on the road to Votkinsk, and thousands of residents and workers did not have time to escape and fell under the power of the Reds.
Eyewitnesses of the capture of Izhevsk by the Reds convey the following details of the bloody massacre of civilians. On November 7, the Reds quickly rushed into Izhevsk. Part of the army did not have time to escape; the soldiers dropped their rifles and ran to the factory. The Reds surrounded the plant and checked the workers. Those who had a work ID were released, but the rest were taken out, gathered in the church square, and everyone was shot with machine guns. In total, about 800 people were killed on the day the city was captured. The bodies of the dead were transported on carts for several days and buried in huge holes in the forest near the factory lake. The next day the Emergency Commission began to operate. They caught everyone the local communists pointed at. After a few days, the prisons and all detention facilities were overcrowded. Those arrested were lying in cellars and barns.
The main contingent of those arrested: workers and employees of the plant. The executions continued for more than a month. The main participants in the executions were the Chinese, Magyars and Latvians. The apartments of working families whose members served in the People's Army were completely looted. The families of the workers who left were killed. »
Moltchanoff V.M. The last white general.// An Interview with onducted by Boris Raymond. 1972 by The University of California at Berkeley. P. 39-40.
Ibid. P.45.
Ibid. P.78.
Ibid. P.80
Naumov V.M. My memories. // Izhevsk-Votkinsk uprising. P. 83.
Right there.
Uk. op. P. 86.
Efimov A.G. Izhevsk and Votkinsk residents. The fight against the Bolsheviks 1918-1920. M., 2008. P. 56.
Decree. op. pp. 66-67.
Decree. op. pp. 72-73.
Decree. op. pp. 80, 82, 87-88.
Who hasn't heard how he fought with his enemies?
Izhevsk regiment near bloody Ufa,
How he rushed to attack with an accordion player,
Izhevets is a simple Russian worker.
Izhevsk fighters in Kolchak’s Russian army
In Soviet times, we enthusiastically sang a song about “the assault nights of Spassk, the Volochaev days.” And no one asked the question: why were those Far Eastern hills so hard for the red heroes? The reality turned out to be not entirely heroic, rather tragic. In fact, in the winter of 1922, at the Volochaev line, the Reds were fiercely resisted by a division of Ural workers who fought for the Whites.
In August 1918, the Izhevsk-Votkinsk anti-Bolshevik rebellion took place - an armed uprising led by the organization "Union of Front-line Soldiers" under the slogan "For Soviets without Bolsheviks." The workers rebelled, outraged by the Russophobic lawlessness of the Red Terror and the numerous cruel and extrajudicial reprisals against their fellow countrymen. The center of the uprising was two cities where large state-owned defense factories were located. At the moment of its highest rise, the rebellion engulfed a territory with a population of more than a million people (most of modern Udmurtia), and the size of the rebel army reached 25 thousand bayonets. The most active participants in the uprising were the workers of Izhevsk and Votkinsk. It was from them that two divisions were formed. The workers went into battle against the Bolsheviks, first under a red banner on which was written “In the fight you will find your right.”
Strategically, the Izhevsk-Votkinsk uprising had a significant impact on the position of the Red Army, mainly on the actions of the 2nd and 3rd armies. The 2nd Army was actually defeated by the rebels, after which it had to be created again and until the very end of the uprising it was confined to the Izhevsk-Votkinsk region, unable to assist the front. In turn, the 3rd Army was forced to allocate part of its forces for action against the rebel Votkinsk, in addition, significant forces were diverted to protect the Vyatka-Perm railway, which was in danger of being cut by the rebels. All this became an important factor that allowed the Russian army to concentrate forces in the Perm direction and subsequently capture Perm on December 25, 1918. The defeat, flight and complete collapse of the 2nd Army of the Red Army, the obvious sympathy and help of the peasants to the rebel workers made the uprising extremely dangerous for the red government. The unreliability of those mobilized from the local population forced troops to be sent from the center of the country. Perseverance in military clashes required the sending of especially persistent units made up of communists, Latvians and Chinese. The detachments of mercenary foreigners were no different in their cruelty from home-grown communists, and the struggle took on a ferocious, bloody character with heavy losses on both sides. As a result of the defeat of the uprising, the White movement lost the opportunity to use the potential of the Izhevsk arms factories, which produced up to one third of all small arms produced in Russia, in the Civil War. These factories passed into the hands of the Reds. Due to the departure of a significant part of the workers to the whites, the production of rifles at the Izhevsk plant sharply decreased. Only by January 1919 it was possible to increase it to 1000 pieces per day, which, nevertheless, was half the production volume before the uprising. Together with the rebels, their families also left their homes, not counting on the Bolsheviks’ mercy.
During the Civil War, the Izhevsk and Votkinsk divisions suffered losses and merged into one division. It was headed by Colonel Victorin Molchanov. This formation became part of the troops of Admiral Kolchak. The civil war for Molchanov began with the fact that he led a detachment of peasant self-defense that resisted the Bolshevik food detachments in the Kama region. Then Molchanov led an uprising in Yelabuga district. At the same time, having broken through the front, a unit of Izhevsk workers withdrew from the encirclement near Yelabuga and became part of the 2nd White Guard Ufa Army Corps.
The division of Ural workers was the most combat-ready unit of Kolchak’s troops. She was the last to retreat, holding back the onslaught of the Reds. She suffered especially in Krasnoyarsk, where the Reds rebelled, cutting off their escape routes. Then the Izhevsk/Votkin residents fought into Krasnoyarsk, defeated the rebels and moved to Irkutsk.
Battle banner of the Ural workers division 
As we know, in the Baikal region, Kolchak’s army ended its existence, and the Supreme Ruler himself was shot. Only the Ural division and the regiment of Kappel officers were able to cross the ice of Lake Baikal in full force. In Chita, General Molchanov received the post of deputy commander of the Far Eastern (White) Army and headed the Siberian Corps, created on the basis of the remaining troops of Kappel and Kolchak. In Primorye, Molchanov rearmed his soldiers, replenished the regiments with volunteers from the local population, after which the corps became known as the Insurgent White Army. From Ussuriysk, Molchanov's army launched an offensive to the north and inflicted a number of significant defeats on the Red Far Eastern Army. On December 22, 1921, the Whites captured Khabarovsk and liberated almost all of the central Amur region and northern Primorye. The Molchanovites suffered their first defeat on February 12, 1922 from the superior forces of the Red Army near Volochaevka.
During the years of Soviet power, a museum was created on the June-Koran hill on the left bank of the Amur, near Khabarovsk. One of the most interesting exhibitions recreates the events of February 1922: the army of the red hero of the Civil War Vasily Blucher, having numerous superiority in manpower, with the support of artillery, tanks and armored trains, breaks through the white defenses. The June-Koran hill and adjacent territories were occupied by the Izhevsk-Votkinsk division. It gave the rest of the White Guards, burdened with convoys and families, a chance to retreat beyond the Amur and then, from Primorye, by sea or by land, emigrate from Russia.
The division itself lost many soldiers in those battles, but also laid down a lot of enemy manpower on the approaches to Volochaevka. Suffice it to say that the first regiment of Red Army soldiers that stormed the hill was completely destroyed. Commander Blucher had to urgently throw reserves into battle so that the Whites would not have time to transport ammunition from Khabarovsk. Since there was not enough ammunition, the Izhevsk residents poured water on the slopes of the hill, creating an ice crust, and entangled everything with barbed wire. They rose from the trenches only in furious bayonet attacks. When Blucher's cavalry began to surround Volochaevka and the hill, Molchanov gave the order to retreat to Khabarovsk. From there, its units fought their way south with heavy fighting. The most violent clashes occurred at Rozengartovka and Bikin stations. By the way, all Blucher regiments participating in them were awarded the Order of the Red Banner.
In October 1922 Fierce fighting began in Spassk. And again, the evacuation of the remnants of the White Army was covered by the Izhevsk-Votkinsk division under the command of General Molchanov. Of course, the Ural workers also protected their families, who were in a hurry to get out of Russia to China. On the morning of October 9, the Red troops went on the offensive along the entire front. After a short artillery barrage, they occupied the northern part of the city. By noon, four more forts were captured and the Whites retreated to the last fortified line in the area of the cement plant. However, then, finding themselves under the threat of being captured from the flanks, they were forced to leave Spassk...
So the division of Ural workers practically ceased to exist. She took on only one more battle - on the border with China. In order for the convoy with women and children to cross the border, the Urals launched a bayonet attack against the Red Army soldiers, commanded by Uborevich. Only a small number of surviving soldiers and officers, preserving St. Andrew's Banner, left Russia...
Victorin Mikhailovich Molchanov 
Permanent commander of the Izhevsk-Votkinsk division. He graduated from the Elabuga Real and Moscow Infantry Junker (later Alekseevskoye Military) schools. He served in the Siberian engineer battalions in the Baikal region and in the village of Razdolnoye near Vladivostok. He did a lot of geodetic work in Primorye and Lake Baikal. Member of the First World War. The end of the war found him on the Riga front as an engineer in the army corps with the rank of lieutenant colonel. He was wounded in both legs and was taken prisoner by the Germans. He ran. Returning to Yelabuga, he joined the White movement. At the end of the Civil War, together with several officers and the commander of the Zemstvo Army, General Diterichs, he left Vladivostok for the Korean border in Posiet. Here they were picked up by a squadron of ships of the Siberian Flotilla of Rear Admiral George Stark. Victorin Molchanov emigrated to Korea, from there he moved to Manchuria. After some time, he left for the USA and settled near San Francisco. There he organized a chicken farm. During the Great Patriotic War, Molchanov supported fundraising in the United States to help the Red Army and the Soviet people fighting fascism. Victorin Mikhailovich died in 1975.
Sources:
"The white commander walked under the red banner"
Izhevsk division of Kolchak
created by order of Kolchak on August 14. 1919 from the Izhevsk brigade, replenished with volunteers and mobilization. residents of Udmurtia and the Urals, mainly from the participants of the Izhevsk-Votkinsk anti-Bolshevik uprising. She fought against the advancing Red troops of the 5th Army of M.N. Tukhachevsky. Izhevtsy were part of the shock group. Lieutenant General S.N. Voitsekhovsky. As a result of the defeat in the Chelyabinsk operation in Div. There are just over 500 bayonets left. Aug 14 1919 introduced into Armenian. Reserve, set aside for the Tobol River. K con. Aug. Izhevsk residents created 14 recruiting camps. points from Omsk to Novonikolaevsk to recruit soldiers from among refugees. A special facility was opened in Tomsk. bureau for the improvement of Izhevsk residents, collecting donations. In con. Aug. behaved bitterly. battles near Petropavlovsk, she was surrounded, but thanks to the efforts of the division commander general. V.M. Molchanova managed to escape. Transferred to the Volga gr. 3rd Army. Aug 30 received reinforcements - the 4th Orenburg Cossack Regiment and, launching an attack on the Reds, broke through the front. K ser. Sep. div. laid aside for rest and reorganized. In the beginning. Jan. 1920 Izhevsk residents approached Krasnoyarsk, where V.O. Kappel’s army united with the 3rd Army of Lieutenant General. S.N. Voitsekhovsky and moved towards Irkutsk. 6 Feb. on the approaches to Irkutsk she was defeated and, having bypassed the city, went to Transbaikalia. 3rd and 4th regiments I.D.K. were almost completely destroyed. Remains of the divas. located in the Chita region. Gene. Molchanov became a com. 3rd department shooter corps, the backbone of which was made up of the Izhevsk and Votkinsk divas. Oct 19 1920 in the region of Borzya station, where the Germans held the defense, fierce battles broke out. In a month of fighting, Izhevsk lost approx. 400 people Remains of the divas. retreated to Manchuria, then moved to Primorye. By the spring of 1921, Izhevsk and Votkinsk residents numbered 1,506 people, incl. 231 officers. Soon all the whites. The units were united under the command of Gen. Molchanov in Belopovstanch. army, in which the Izhevsk and Votkinsk residents formed a department. Izhevsk-Votkinsk brigade (975 bayonets, 245 sabers, 2 guns). Com. brigade regiment A.G. Efimov. From 22 Nov. 1921 she knocked the Reds out of Spassk, from 21 to 22 December. from Khabarovsk, on Dec. - Feb. fought at the station. Volochaevka. 27-28 Feb. The Izhevsk-Votkinsk brigade took its last battle at Bikin station, then went to Primorye under the protection of Japanese units. The remnants of Izhevsk and Votkinsk residents remained in Primorye until the middle. Oct. 1922. Having suffered graduation. defeat at Spassk, they crossed the Chinese border and were interned. by the authorities. Some of them returned to Sov Russia, some went to California (USA), some remained in China and participated in the Okhotsk campaign of the general. A.N. Pepelyaeva (1923). She was awarded the St. George Banner and the St. George Cross, IV Art.
Izhevsk museum workers have known for a long time that the St. George’s Banner of the Izhevsk Division is kept in the Irkutsk Regional Museum of Local Lore, reports Udmurtskaya Pravda. In 2008, when the 90th anniversary was celebrated, then still timidly, with a dotted line, and at the National Museum. Kuzebaya Gerda was preparing an exhibition on this topic; Irkutsk colleagues transferred it for a while to the capital of Udmurtia. It was delivered by the participants of the rally - test drivers of the Izhevsk Automobile Plant.
“In fairness, this rarity should be in Izhevsk,” the director of the Izhevsk Humanitarian Lyceum, Mikhail Petrovich Cheremnykh, convinced the head of the regional museum when, by chance, he found himself on a business trip in this Siberian city. I hoped that I could convince and charm the Irkutsk resident.
But for the Irkutsk Museum this banner is an important artifact associated with the history of Admiral Alexander Vasilyevich Kolchak and the Ice Campaign of the White Army, and the museum did not want to part with it, and the law does not allow giving away items from the fund. Then Mikhail Petrovich had an idea - to make the most accurate copy of the banner, its historical reconstruction.
The closer time moved to the round anniversary - the 100th anniversary of the Izhevsk-Votkinsk uprising, the wider the circle of people who supported his idea became, and the more concrete it became. And the soul of the team was the deputy director of the Gallery Exhibition Center Marina Rupasova.
Did not participate in battles
The Izhevsk division was the only military unit of Kolchak’s White Army awarded the St. George Banner. In Russia, this was awarded to regiments that especially distinguished themselves in battle. The decree was signed on August 14, 1919. Obviously, an order for the production of the banner was immediately placed in the gold-embroidery workshop of one of the monasteries near Irkutsk. But the award was not presented, since the Izhevsk division at that time was fighting far from the city. The banner was in the headquarters carriage of Commander-in-Chief Kolchak's train until he was arrested and shot by the Reds here in Irkutsk, and all property was sealed.
- Some of our historians think - well, what is its value? There were no battles, and the hands of Izhevsk workers never touched him,” says Marina Rupasova. – And he continues: maybe this is important - it is not stained with anyone’s blood. It did not speak for either one or the other. Yes, it was associated with the white movement. But today it is fair to consider it as a historical artifact, important for the city and beginning to live its own independent history. Its first plot is connected with the life and arrest of Kolchak. Another is the arrival of the original banner in Izhevsk for an exhibition at the National Museum. Today, the third is being prepared - making a copy of it in Irkutsk and returning it to Izhevsk forever - for the 100th anniversary of the Izhevsk-Votkinsk uprising.
‒ The Izhevsk Museum is preparing a project for this date called “Decalogue,” which translates as “ten stories.” It’s about the history of our people, families, events related to the Izhevsk uprising, and is aimed more at the mythologies of the uprising,” explains Marina Rupasova. – The uprising of the Izhevsk workers itself has become a myth, the psychic attack at the beginning of the battle, supposedly born in these years in the Kama region, is also a myth. Family stories about the uprising, carefully hidden from children for a long time, are myths. Three videos will be recorded for the Izhevsk Museum by our colleagues from Irkutsk, Vladivostok and San Francisco. Irkutsk residents will tell the story of this banner, show corners of the city associated with the last days of Kolchak, historical streets and houses. Now their work, as I know, is coming to an end.
But in Irkutsk they do not only shoot a video film. There they are making a copy of the St. George Banner, as close as possible to the original. The reconstruction, commissioned from Izhevsk, is being carried out by craftswomen from the Kharlampievsky Church, by the way, the one where Alexander Kolchak married his wife Sophia.
Mikhail Cheremnykh met with the rector of the church, Father Evgeniy, who blessed this good deed of preserving the memory of the thousands who died during the brutal, ugly civil war, when brother opposed brother, son against father and vice versa. The local goldsmith's workshop is known throughout the country for its skilled, experienced embroiderers and seamstresses. They were given the order. The brigade was headed by Galina Mikhailovna Chernyshova. Not without hesitation. There were doubts. Will they be able to complete it in the allotted time? She recruited her team very carefully; one craftswoman lives all the way in Ulan-Ude.
Craftswomen every now and then go to the Irkutsk Museum, photograph and measure the details of the banner. Its cloth is dense silky fabric. On one side is the face of the Savior, called according to the canon “The Ardent Eye of the Savior” with a quotation from the 88th Psalm of King David, on the other is the coat of arms of the Russian Empire - a double-headed eagle, and in the middle is the image of St. George the Victorious. The work ahead was very difficult. Embroidery with gilded threads using satin stitch, making gold braid bordering the banner. When flax was needed, the craftswomen realized that such harsh linen thread could not be found, and they themselves crumpled the flax, pulled it, and twisted the thread from it. These are reconstructions of ancient technology.
From time to time, sketches of faces and letters are sent from Irkutsk for approval. The question arose: do we make an exact copy or allow some changes. The seamstresses noticed that the banner was clearly embroidered in a hurry. There is curvature of letters, uneven stitches. The manufacturers were probably in a hurry, the craftswomen suggested. They were already beginning to feel the mood, the rhythm of the work of their predecessors in the craft.
One hundred percent repetition of old technologies cannot be achieved today. Somewhere, embroidery is done with a sewing machine; it is no longer possible to find the same silk from which the banner was made, and therefore an analogue was selected, which also reduces the cost of work. The creation of a historical reconstruction of the banner of the Izhevsk division will be completed by the end of the year, and on January 7, the organizers of this action will fly for the banner to Irkutsk, where Priest Evgeniy will perform its minor consecration; in Izhevsk, the rite of major consecration will be performed by Metropolitan of Izhevsk and Udmurt Victorin.
Do your bit, Izhevsk resident
The entire cost of the work, travel there and back, and insurance are estimated at 300 thousand rubles, the collection of which was announced today among Izhevsk residents. Half of the amount has already been contributed by the Humanitarian Lyceum. The second should be collected by city residents through a crowdfunding platform. You need to enter your card number and amount. For different amounts - different rewards - souvenirs, sketches of which were made by Izhevsk artists Maxim Verevkin and Roman Postnikov.
If Izhevsk residents cannot collect their half of the costs, the project will take place at the expense of sponsors. But the organizers want everyone to contribute at least a small amount, thereby expressing that today our civil war is over, and the hatred of the victors and the vanquished has subsided. Let's forget the horror and sacrifices of those years and shake hands with each other. Civil war in any case is the greatest misfortune that can happen in any country. So far, the townspeople have donated only 30 thousand rubles.
“We are talking about history associated with distant events,” continues Marina Borisovna. ‒ For every resident of Izhevsk today, this is a way to say: “This is my story too. And I once contributed my modest money so that the banner of the Izhevsk division appeared in the Izhevsk Museum.” The fact that this is a copy should not be confusing. We restored St. Michael's Cathedral. This is also a copy of the old destroyed temple. But it had an important symbolic meaning for our city - the return of what was lost. Only everyone’s participation in the return of the unique, but deliberately forgotten for political reasons, history of Izhevsk - the workers’ uprising - makes this event relevant today.
Through family stories
Tentatively, the Izhevsk Museum’s “Decalogue” project, dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the Izhevsk-Votkinsk uprising, will open on April 10, 2018. Its artifacts, in addition to the banner of the Izhevsk division, will be human stories - texts, photographs, videos. Work on the design project is underway. Modern technologies for color sound and image will be used. Unfortunately, there are few antique items from that time. Employees of the Izhevsk Museum ask residents of the city who have some original items that belonged to participants in the Izhevsk-Votkinsk uprising or their families to bring them for display at least for the duration of the exhibition.
- Which side will you take in this project?
- Both. Let's imagine both sides - the Bolsheviks and the rebels, who, by the will of fate, were forced, after the suppression of the uprising, to go to Kolchak. Unfortunately, there are no direct descendants of the Red Army soldiers who are well known - Likhvintsev, Zhechev, Pastukhov. They died young. We recorded an interview with Pastukhov’s relative Tatyana Viktorovna Nikolaeva. While talking with her, they talked about her childhood memory. She remembered how the aunties gathered to visit, always celebrated the birthday of the tragically deceased Ivan Dmitrievich Pastukhov, what songs they sang, what they put on the table. From one of her aunts she heard a story about the revolutionary Lydia Khlybova, whom Pastukhov loved.
After the defeat of the uprising
The Izhevsk-Votkinsk workers' uprising lasted one hundred days from August 8, 1918 to November 7, 1918. When the ammunition ran out and Izhevsk was taken by Vladimir Azin’s division, a crossing was organized on the Kama, and along it the Izhevsk residents (as the city’s residents were called before the revolution and after the revolution until the 1960s) and Votkinsk residents, many with their families, left for the left bank , leaving homes, households, many children, wives and elderly parents. There was no other choice but to join Kolchak’s army.
At first, as Colonel Avenir Gennadievich Efremov, chief of staff of the Izhevsk Rifle Division, writes in his book “Izhevtsy and Votkintsy,” discord began between Votkinsk residents and Izhevsk residents, and the Votkinsk residents, having organized the Votkinsk division, broke away from their brothers in arms and joined another military unit white army. Izhevsk was initially called a brigade. They showed themselves to be the most fearless and desperate warriors. But there were heavy battles with heavy losses.
On August 4, 1919, by order of Kolchak, the Izhevsk division was organized, replenished with volunteers and mobilized residents of Udmurtia and the Urals, including Votkinsk residents, who also lost a lot of manpower during the battles and again merged into one with the remaining brothers in the uprising. But the army retreated to the east. On February 27 - 28, the thinned division, which had already turned into a brigade, took its last battle at the Bikin station, then went to Primorye. The remnants of Izhevsk and Votkinsk residents crossed the Chinese border and were interned by local authorities. Some of them returned to Soviet Russia, some went to California (USA), some remained in China and participated in the Yakut campaign of General A.N. Pepelyaev. She was awarded the St. George Banner and the St. George Cross, IV degree.
2019-04-28T20:23:21+05:00 lesovoz_69History and local history Udmurtia army, history, local history, Russian EmpireSt. George's Banner of the Izhevsk Division The Izhevsk museum workers have known for a long time that the Irkutsk Regional Museum of Local Lore keeps the St. George's Banner of the Izhevsk Division, reports Udmurtskaya Pravda. In 2008, when the 90th anniversary of the Izhevsk-Votkinsk uprising was celebrated, then still timidly, with a dotted line, and at the National Museum. Kuzebaya Gerda was preparing an exhibition on this topic, Irkutsk colleagues...lesovoz_69 lesovoz_69 lesovoz [email protected] Author In the Middle of Russia
