Mobilisation in the Army of Admiral Kolchak (Irbit Uyezd, Perm Province, March 1919)

Abstract

This paper discusses some aspects of mobilisation of veterans of World War I into the army of Admiral Kolchak, which took place in Irbitsky Uyezd (district) of Perm Province in March, 1919. The main results of this mobilisation are fully described in the paper which has never been done previously. A total of 2 465 residents of Irbitsky Uyezd were recruited in the army of Admiral Kolchak. Despite the fact that about 25 percent of recruits evaded conscription, March mobilisation in Irbitsky Uyezd should be considered successful in the harsh realities of the Russian Civil War. During the mobilisation, there was only one case of defiance of recruits. It happened in the village of Komleva, Baykalovskaya Volost, Irbitsky Uyezd. The disorders were quickly suppressed by the militia of Irbitsky Uyezd, who arrested 13 instigators and flogged all the draftees in the village of Komleva. Thus, in the spring of 1919 Kolchak authorities in Irbitsky Uyezd, as well as in other Uyezds of Perm province, managed to mobilise veterans of World War I. However, according to the author’s opinion, mass recruitment of veterans of World War I in the army of Admiral Kolchak provoked a deep internal crisis of the army because veterans brought the rebellious spirit of revolutionary anarchy of 1917 with them. As a result, in the summer of 1919, after Red Army began its offensive in the Urals, the Siberian army of Admiral Kolchak quickly collapsed. During retreat through their native lands, most of the mobilised Ural peasants deserted. The majority of soldiers mobilised earlier in Irbitsky Uyezd of Perm Province deserted from Kolchak army in July 1919.