The Vyoshenskaya Uprising (or Upper Don rebellion) (March 11 - June 8, 1919) was an uprising of the
Don Cossacks
Don Cossacks (, ) or Donians (, ), are Cossacks who settled along the middle and lower Don River (Russia), Don. Historically, they lived within the former Don Cossack Host (, ), which was either an independent or an autonomous democratic rep ...
during the
Russian Civil War
The Russian Civil War () was a multi-party civil war in the former Russian Empire sparked by the 1917 overthrowing of the Russian Provisional Government in the October Revolution, as many factions vied to determine Russia's political future. I ...
led by Pavel Kudinov against the Bolsheviks, which had occupied the Upper Don district in January–March 1919. The uprising was centered around the village of
Vyoshenskaya.
Uprising
At the end of 1918 and beginning of 1919 the Tsaritsyn Front of the
Don Army suffered a serious defeat against the Bolsheviks in the
Voronezh–Povorino Operation
The Voronezh–Povorino Operation, was a battle in January 1919 between the White and Red Armies during the Russian Civil War around the city of Voronezh and the railway station of Povorino. The Red Army defeated the Don Army under Pyotr Krasnov. ...
. The Don Army retreated south, but many Upper-Don Cossacks went home, hoping for some peace settlement with the Red Army. But the Red Army ordered the Cossacks to surrender all weapons within 24 hours under the threat of execution. They also decided to confiscate the property from the "rich and bourgeois" and any money except Soviet money was banned.
The district was flooded with Red units passing south to the front, leading to requisitioning of bread, horses and ordinary robbery.
The Red tribunals began to draw up execution lists. By the beginning of the uprising, up to 300 Cossacks had been shot, and rumors of executions lists of hundreds of Cossacks from every village, completely upset the Upper Don Cossacks.
This led to a spontaneous uprising in the whole district, of which Pavel Kudinov became the leader.
To suppress the uprising, the Red Army was forced to divert 14,000 soldiers from the
8th
Eighth is ordinal form of the number eight.
Eighth may refer to:
* One eighth, , a fraction, one of eight equal parts of a whole
* Eighth note (quaver), a musical note played for half the value of a quarter note (crotchet)
* Octave, an interval b ...
and
9th armies of the
Southern Front.
Despite the massive repression, the Don Cossacks managed, with the support of parts of the Don Army, to contain the onslaught of the expeditionary forces.
The insurgents, whose strength was estimated at 30,000, tied down roughly the same number of Soviet troops, diverting them from checking the
advance of the Don Army.
Between May 28-June 2, the Don Army command took to the offensive along the entire front. Having seized the initiative, the units of the Don Army occupied
Millerovo in May,
Lugansk
Luhansk (, ; , ), also known as Lugansk (, ; , ), is a city in the Donbas in eastern Ukraine. As of 2022, the population was estimated to be making Luhansk the 12th-largest city in Ukraine.
Luhansk served as the administrative center of Luh ...
on June 1 and, interacting with units of the Volunteer Army, drove the 8th Red Army to the north in the direction of Voronezh, and the 9th Red Army to the northeast in the direction of Balashov.
The insurgents united with the Don Army at Vyoshenskaya and by the end of June the Don Host Oblast had been cleared of Soviet forces.
References
Citations
Bibliography
* Venkov A. V. The Vyoshenskoye uprising. - M .: Veche, 2012. - .
* Krasnov V., Daines V. Unknown Trotsky. Red Bonaparte. - Moscow: Olma-Press, 2000. - 510 p. - 5000 copies. - .
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vyoshenskaya Uprising
Battles of the Russian Civil War
Conflicts in 1919
Battles involving the Armed Forces of South Russia
Battles involving Soviet Russia (1917–1922)