Tambov Rebellion
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The Tambov Rebellion of 1919–1921 was a large peasant rebellion against the Bolsheviks during the Russian Civil War. It was with participation with a former official of the Socialist-Revolutionary Party, Alexander Antonov, and therefore in Soviet history it was named the Antonovschina (Анто́новщина) by Vladimir Lenin. It was sparked by the harsh policy of war communism. Antonov was only active participant of the rebellion, not a leader.
The uprising took place in the territories of the modern Tambov Oblast and a part of Voronezh Oblast.
As a distinctive feature of this rebellion among the many of these times, it was led by a political organization, the Union of Toiling Peasants (Soyuz Trudovogo Krestyanstva).
The seriousness of the uprising called for the creation of the "Plenipotentiary Commission of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee of the Bolshevik party for liquidation of banditism in the Tambov Gubernia". The rebellion was crushed by Red Army units headed by Mikhail Tukhachevsky. The political guidance of the anti-revolt operations was effected by Vladimir Antonov-Ovseenko. The famous Soviet Marshal Georgy Zhukov got his first Soviet decoration while fighting rebels here.
According to the The Black Book of Communism, the uprising was so great that nearly 100,000 soldiers were sent in, including special CheKa detachments [1]. The army used heavy artillery and armoured trains to fight peasant rebels.[citation needed] The Red Army under Tukhachevsky used to take and execute without trial, civilian hostages.[citation needed]
Chemical weapons were used. Tukhachevsky and Vladimir Antonov-Ovseenko signed Order N 171, dated June 11 1921, that stipulated: "The forests where the bandits are hiding are to be cleared by the use of poison gas. This must be carefully calculated, so that the layer of gas penetrates the forests and kills everyone hiding there." [1]
Seven Concentration camps were set up. At least 50,000 people were interned, mostly women, children, and elderly, some of them were sent there as hostages. The mortality rate in the camps was 15-20 percent a month. [1]
- Tukhachvsky role in the Tambov revolt, including the text of commands given to the red army concerning the use of war gases, taking and executing hostages, deporting of peasant families to Concentration camps.
The uprising was gradually quelled in 1921. Antonov was killed in 1922 in an attempt to arrest him.
[edit] Notes
- ^ a b c Nicolas Werth, Karel Bartošek, Jean-Louis Panné, Jean-Louis Margolin, Andrzej Paczkowski, Stéphane Courtois, The Black Book of Communism: Crimes, Terror, Repression, Harvard University Press, 1999, hardcover, 858 pages, ISBN 0-674-07608-7
[edit] External links
- Programme of Union of Toiling Peasants
- (in Russian) Antonovshchina: a wealth of historical documents, including the documents from the rebel side
- Tukhachvsky role in the Tambov revolt, including the text of commands given to the red army concerning the use of war gases, taking and executing hostages, deporting of peasant families to Concentration camps.
- An illustrated article about Tambov revolt from Gulag website (Russian)
