French Prisoners of War in South of Soviet Russia in Spring and Summer of 1919
https://doi.org/10.24224/2227-1295-2021-6-317-331
Abstract
The article examines the plot about the stay of French servicemen in captivity in the south of Russia at the end of the intervention of the Entente countries (spring-summer 1919). The relevance of the study is due to the need to revise the point of view established in Russian historiography about the voluntary and massive transition of the French military to the side of the Bolsheviks. The author dwells on the circumstances of captivity and the period of detention of foreigners. Particular attention is paid to the attempt by the Bolsheviks to spread the ideas of the left movement and attract prisoners to the ranks of the Red Army. This activity was carried out through the creation of communist groups at the Foreign Collegium in Odessa. Using the example of the work of the French Communist Group employees, it was possible to identify agitation and propaganda methods of persuading the compatriots to the side of the Bolsheviks. The novelty of the study is seen in the fact that for the reconstruction of the methods of campaigning, the author involved materials from the archives of the French Ministry of Defense, which make it possible to determine the circle of agitators and concretize methods of recruiting foreigners. The author proved that there was no mass transition to the side of the Bolsheviks, the agitators managed to persuade only a few prisoners of the French and most of the servicemen remained faithful to this oath.
Keywords
Supporting agencies: The research is sponsored by a grant of the Russian Science Foundation, Grant 20-78-10014 “From Entente to Pact: French-Russian / French-Soviet relations during the period of 1890—1930s”
About the Author
K. A. Bespalova
Ural Federal University named after the First President of Russia B.N. Yeltsin
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Ksenia A. Bespalova - Junior Researcher Laboratory of Traditional Archeography.
Yekaterinburg
References
1. Coeuré, S. (2014). Pierre Pascal. La Russie entre christianisme et communism. Lausanne: Les éditions noir sur blanc. 416 p. (In French).
2. Galkina, Yu. M. (2020). French military mission in Russia in the events of 1917—1918. In: Russian Collection: research on the history of Russia, 28. Moscow: Modest Kolerov. 162—212. (In Russ.).
3. Khromov, S. S. (ed.). (1983). Civil war and military intervention in the USSR: encyclopedia. Moscow: Soviet Encyclopedia. 704 p. (In Russ.).
4. Masson, P. (1982). La marine française et la Mer Noir (1918—1919). Paris : Service historique de la marine. 669 p. (In French).
5. Munholland, J. Kim. (1981). The French army and intervention in Southern Russia, 1918—1919. Cahiers du monde russe et soviétique, 22/1: 43—66. (In French).
6. Popenko, Ya. V. (2005). Activities of the diplomatic mission of the Directory of the Ukrainian People’s Republic in Belgium and the Netherlands in 1919—1921. Scientific works of the historical faculty of the Zaporizhia state. un-tu, 19 : 188—197.
7. Popov, G. G. (2019). Intervention. Moscow: Veche. 480 p. (In Russ.).
8. Puchenkov, A. S. (2013). “The Big City gives an opportunity to turn around”: from the history of the French intervention in Odessa. Proceedings of the Faculty of History of St. Petersburg State University, 14 : 125—157. (In Russ.).
9. Shubin, A. V. (2018). French intervention in Ukraine in 1918—1919 in the context of the Russian revolution. In: French Yearbook 2018: Intercultural contacts during the period of foreign occupation. Moscow: Institute of General History of the Russian Academy of Sciences. 315—339. (In Russ.).
10. Tsvilyuk, S. A. (1987). Defending the cause of October: foreign internationalists in Odes sa. 1917—1920. Odessa : Mayak. 272 p. (In Russ.).
11. Vistinetskiy, M. A. (ed.). (1957). The cause of the working people of the whole world: facts, documents, essays on fraternal assistance and solidarity of the working people of foreign countries with the peoples of the Soviet Union. Moscow: Gospolitizdat. 386 p. (In Russ.).
12. Yuzhakova, L. V. (1975). Proletarian internationalism in the activities of the French communist group of the RCP(b). Questions of scientific communism, 7: 205—214. (In Russ.).
13. Zak, L. M. (1989). Friendship was born in struggle. Moscow: Mysl. 228 p. (In Russ.).
14. Zharov, L. I., Ustinov, V. M. (1960). International units of the Red Army in the battles for the power of the Soviets during the years of foreign military intervention and the Civil War in the USSR. Moscow: Military publishing house of the Ministry of Defense of the USSR. 160 p. (In Russ.).
Review
For citations:
Bespalova K.A. French Prisoners of War in South of Soviet Russia in Spring and Summer of 1919. Nauchnyi dialog. 2021;(6):317-331. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.24224/2227-1295-2021-6-317-331
Views:
441
Email this article 