Военный комиссариат Калмыкии и его роль в формировании национальных воинских частей и соединений Красной армии

Abstract

The article is dedicated to the history of the regional military command and control body in Kalmykia from the beginning of its first creation in September 1918 until its liquidation in December 1943, as well as its role in the formation of Kalmyk national military units of the Red Army. Unfortunately, the history of military registration and enlistment offices both in the country as a whole and in Kalmykia in particular, belong to topics that are poorly studied in Russian and foreign historiography. The author, relying on a wide range of documentary materials found in the Russian State Military Archive, the Central Archive of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation and the National Archives of the Republic of Kalmykia, tried to fill this gap. The results obtained led to the conclusion that the Kalmyk military enlistment office, formed in September 1918 by the decision of the 2nd Extraordinary Congress of Soviets of Labor Kalmyk People, was created, first of all, to form the Kalmyk national units of the Red Army: first, the Model Revolutionary Kalmyk Cavalry Regiment, then the Kalmyk cavalry brigade, and finally the Kalmyk cavalry division. Attempts by the Astrakhan provincial authorities to downgrade the status of the Central Kalmyk military registration and enlistment office to the district level had a negative impact on the formation of Kalmyk national units. During the interwar period, the Kalmyk military enlistment office repeatedly took the initiative to create the Kalmyk cavalry regiment, but achieved only partial success: the formation of the Kalmyk squadron as part of the 30th cavalry regiment of the 5th Blinovskaya cavalry division, and then as part of the 87th reserve cavalry regiment. During the Great Patriotic War, the Kalmyk military registration and enlistment office conducted active military mobilization work, recruiting almost every fifth resident of Kalmykia in 2.5 years. However, when forming the national units and formations (the 189th Kalmyk cavalry regiment, the 110th and 111th Kalmyk cavalry divisions), the Kalmyk military enlistment office and its ulus military enlistment offices worked with even greater intensity and carefully selected personnel. A number of members of the military enlistment offices specially entered these national units to serve in their ranks. Thus, the author comes to the conclusion that the Kalmyk military enlistment office played an important role in the formation of Kalmyk national units and formations, both during the Civil War and Great Patriotic War and in the interwar period.