DESERTION AND THE FIGHT AGAINST IT IN THE TERRITORY OF THE MARI TERRITORY IN 1919–1920 (based on the materials of the State Archive of the Republic of Mari El)

DOI: 10.47026/2712-9454-2024-5-4-15-21

УДК 94(47).084.3

ББК 63.3(2)612-9

Evgeny A. GROZNOV, Sergei V. STARIKOV

Key words: Civil War in Russia, desertion, fight against desertion, the Mari Territory, centrkomdezertir, gubkomdezertir, uezdkomdezertir, military commissariat, village council.

Desertion, as an element of the Russian army’s disintegration at the beginning of the 20^th century, was finally formed during the First World War. Lack of motivation, depressed morale and abandoned battlefield positions became the main reasons for Russia’s military and political failures at the final stage of the war. That is why, in the conditions of the Civil War outbreak in Russia, an important task for the new Soviet government was to strengthen discipline and revive the combat capability of the army. The fight against desertion was the key to preserve and establish the Soviet power on the ground, including in the Mari Territory.

The purpose of the study is to study desertion as a phenomenon of the Civil War period in Russia in 1919–1920 in the Mari Territory, as well as to identify the main forms and methods of combating it.

Materials and methods. The research used general scientific and special historical methods and approaches. When working with archival materials on the topic of desertion in the Mari Territory, a collection of documents that had not previously appeared in scientific circulation was formed.

Research results. The authority responsible for the search and capture of deserters was the Central Commission for Combating Desertion. The Mari Territory in this matter fell under the jurisdiction of governorate commissions for combating desertion, located in the cities of Kazan and Vyatka. To carry out local tasks in each uyezd of the Mari Territory its own commission for combating desertion was formed under the uyezd military commissariat. They actively cooperated and carried out joint work with both the military commissariat and the uyezd commission for combating counterrevolution. Village councils were also supposed to provide active assistance.The Soviet government toughened penalties for desertion, but also used soft methods to combat this phenomenon.

The study conclusions. During the Russian Civil War, six forms of combating desertion operated in the Mari Territory, all of them functioned together and formed a single integrated system to eradicate and prevent this kind of crime.

References

1. Belova I.B. Dezertirstvo v Sovetskoi Rossii v 1918 – pervoi polovine 1920-kh gg. (po materialam Kaluzhskoi gubernii) [Desertion in Soviet Russia in 1918 – the first half of the 1920 s.]. Vestnik Tverskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta. Istoriya, 2016, no. 2, pp. 24–40.
2. Borozdin K.A. Bor’ba s dezertirstvom v 3 armii krasnykh v 1918 godu [The fight against desertion in the 3^rd Red Army in 1918]. In: Sovremennye nauchnye issledovaniya: aktual’nye voprosy dostizheniya i innovatsii: sbornik statei IV Mezhdunarodnoi nauchno-prakticheskoi konferentsii. V 2 chastyakh, Penza, 23 fevralya 2018 goda. [Proc. of 4^th Sci. Conf. «Modern scientific research: topical issues of achievement and innovation». 2 parts]. Penza, 2018, part 1, pp. 133–135.
3. Borozdin K.A. Dezertirstvo iz krasnoi armii v Ekaterinburgskom uezde na pervonachal’nom ehtape Grazhdanskoi voiny [Desertion from the Red Army in the Yekaterinburg district at the initial stage of the Civil War]. Sovremennye tendentsii i innovatsii v oblasti sotsial’no-gumanitarnykh nauk: Materialy mezhdunarodnoi nauchno-prakticheskoi konferentsii [Proc. of Int. Sci. Conf. «Modern trends and innovations in the field of social sciences and humanities»], Samara, 2018, pp. 142–144.
4. Gosudarstvennyi arkhiv Respubliki Marii El. Fond R-1192. Opis’ 1 [State Archives of the Republic of Mari El. Archives R-1192. Anagraph 1].
5. Gosudarstvennyi arkhiv Respubliki Marii El. Fond R-291. Opis’ 1 [State Archives of the Republic of Mari El. Archives R-291. Anagraph 1].
6. Dolgova A.V. Dezertirstvo v Krasnoi i Beloi armiyakh v 1917–1922 gg. [Desertion in the Red and White Armies in 1917–1922]. Vestnik Permskogo universiteta. Seriya. Istoriya, 2008, no. 7(23), pp. 39–45.
7. Levshin K.V. Prichiny dezertirstva v Krasnoi armii (1918—1921 gg.) [Causes of Desertion in the Red Army (1918–1921)]. Noveishaya istoriya Rossii, 2011, no. 2, pp. 73–79.
8. Mametev I.V. Dezertirstvo iz ryadov RKKA kak forma sotsial’nogo protesta v Nizhnem Povolzh’e (1918–1920 gg.) [Desertion from the ranks of the Red Army as a form of social protest in the Lower Volga region (1918–1920)]. Sotsial’no-politicheskie issledovaniya, 2023, no. 4(21), pp. 99–108.
9. Olikov S.P. Dezertirstvo v Krasnoi armii i bor’ba s nim [Desertion in the Red Army and the fight against it]. Moscow, 1926, 128 p.

About the authors

Evgeny A. Groznov – Head of the Museum Patriotic Center Heroes of the Fatherland, National Museum of The Republic of Mari El; Post-Graduate Student, Department of Russian History, Mari State University, Russia, Yoshkar-Ola (ivangrozn404@gmail.com; ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0005-7350-6189).

Sergei V. Starikov – Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor, Department of Russian History, Mari State University, Russia, Yoshkar-Ola (sv.starikov@yandex.ru).

For citations

Groznov E.A., Starikov S.V. DESERTION AND THE FIGHT AGAINST IT IN THE TERRITORY OF THE MARI TERRITORY IN 1919–1920 (based on the materials of the State Archive of the Republic of Mari El). Historical Search, 2024, vol. 5, no. 4, pp. 15–21. DOI: 10.47026/2712-9454-2024-5-4-15-21 (in Russian).

Download the full article