New Materials on Fighting of Trans–Baikal Partisans for the Capture of Sretensk in January – April 1920

The article is devoted to the study of fighting of Trans-Baikal partisans against the white troops around Sretensk from January to April 1920, as well as their impact on the subsequent course of the Civil War in Transbaikalia. The research methodology is based on comparative historical and historical-genetic methods, which make it possible to reconstruct a reliable picture of events by analyzing the sources. Thanks to the comparative historical method, the memoirs were verified and their subjective level was reduced. The historical and genetic method was used to describe the fighting. Research source base is represented by the documents from the Russian State Military Archive and the State Archive of the Trans-Baikal Territory. The article reconstructs the fighting in detail. The internal processes that took place in the red and white parts are analyzed, the genesis of events in the context of the general course of the Civil War in Transbaikalia and the Amur region is considered. The result of the study is the conclusion that the first battles for Sretensk and the formation of the so-called “Shilka Front” were not a planned partisan operation but were the result of a coincidence of factors such as the arrival of the 7th partisan regiment to rest in the village of Lomovskaya and the uprising of the white units of the Sretensk garrison. The Shilka Front allowed the partisans to switch from raiding operations to positional warfare for a while. Due to this, the white command had to concentrate combat-ready contingents of the former Kolchak armies here. The consequence of this was the rapid advance of the Reds in Western Transbaikalia and the formation of the Far Eastern Republic. An analysis of the internal processes in military formations showed a low level of discipline of the partisan units and a weak coordination of their actions. In turn, the white units opposing them were also characterized by low combat capability, and their command staff was not ready for a full-fledged defense of the city. The article presents for the first time the patterns of movement of partisan detachments and white units during the key events of the struggle for Sretensk

Political science · Central European and Russian historical studies · Education, Psychology, and Complexity Research · Religious, Philosophical, and Educational Studies