Political Activities of Major-General P. F. Ryabikov in Japan and China, 1920—1922

Abstract

The historical-biographical sketch explores several episodes in the life and activities of a prominent Russian military leader, one of the founders of the intelligence service in the pre-revolutionary Russian army, Major General P. F. Ryabikov (1875-1932). Serving in the White Movement as the 2nd Chief of Staff Quartermaster of A. V. Kolchak’s staff, General P. F. Ryabikov acquired competencies as a curator of military propaganda and organizer of periodical publications, which he later successfully utilized as a leader in these areas of military-political activity within the White emigration in Japan and China. From July 1920 to September 1921, P. F. Ryabikov served in the mission of the Commander-in-Chief of all armed forces of the Russian Far Eastern Territory, Ataman G. M. Semenov, in Yokohama, where he was involved in establishing a network of correspondent-informants for this mission in European countries and the United States, receiving reports and messages about the state of these countries, as well as informing representatives of foreign states in line with the ideology of the Semenovites and publishing anti-Bolshevik literature. In October 1921, at the request of Ataman G. M. Semenov, P. F. Ryabikov transferred his activities to Shanghai, where he continued his assigned work with agent-informants and cooperation in the Russian emigrant press. Having no material and organizational support from G. M. Semenov, Ryabikov severed ties with him in February 1922 and embarked on a path of independent political and journalistic activities.