Russian All-Military Union

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Russian All-Military Union (in Russian Русский Обще Воинский Союз, abbreviated РОВС) was founded by White Army General Pyotr Wrangel in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes on September 1, 1924. This organization united all veterans of the Russian White movement, soldiers and officers alike, who were living abroad and desired to stay united for the purpose of liberating Russia from the Bolshevik regime. The Union, known in Russian as ROVS, also tried to conduct operations within the USSR for the purpose of starting a national anti-communist uprising. It is important to note that ROVS was formed outside of Soviet Russia.

Gen. Wrangel before a portrait of Grand Duke Nikolai Romanoff

Aside from anti-communism, ROVS did not have an official political orientation, somewhat adhering to the old Russian military dictum which said "The Army is outside of politics" (in Russian "Армия вне политики"), believing that the political orientation of Russia cannot be predetermined by emigres living outside of its borders (the philosophy of "non-predetermination" or in Russian "непредрешенчество"). Many (but not all) of its members had monarchist sympathies of varying flavors: constitutional vs. autocratic, Romanov vs. non-Romanov oriented.

ROVS, along with other similar Russian emigre organizations, became a prime target for the Soviet OGPU. The Soviet secret police set up a fake anti-communist monarchist organization TREST which was successfully used to confuse and later demoralize ROVS. They also successfully instituted a secret provocational organization within ROVS known as the "Inner Line" (in Russian "Внутренная Линия"), controlled by the double-agent General Nikolai Skoblin, which masqueraded as a patriotic Russian intelligence organization. By the time the "Inner Line" was exposed by the Russian emigre organization NTS, two of ROVS's leaders, General Alexander Kutepov and General Evgenii Miller, were kidnapped and taken by force to the USSR in 1930 and 1937 respectively. By the time World War II started ROVS lost most of its significance and influence. During WWII, ROVS maintained a cautious position during the Second World War, not siding officially with Nazi Germany or the Soviet Union, but waiting for the emergence of an independent Russian Liberation Army.

ROVS continued to be active into the 1990s, having evolved into an organization that was principally concerned with the historical preservation of the pre-communist and anti-communist Russian military tradition. In ROVS's possession are a significant number of Russian imperial and White Army battle flags and standards, which are meant to be returned to Russia when "a national Russian army" is once again in existence.

In the mid 1990s a split emerged within ROVS on whether to continue the organization's existence. In 2000, Vladimir Vishnevsky, a U.S. resident and the ROVS chairman at that time, requested a vote on this question. The vast majority of members voted for the dissolution of ROVS. Vishnevsky died of cancer in that same year, but ROVS members, following the overwhelming poll results dissolved the organization. A handful of members, however, rejected this turn of events. This faction, primarily based in Russia and currently headed by Igor Ivanov, claims that ROVS was not dissolved and named Nikolai Feodorov (d. 2003), a U.S. resident and Russian Civil War veteran, an honorary chairman of their organization.