Estonian Riflemen, Estonian Red Riflemen, Estonian Red Army, Estonian Red Guards ( et, Eesti Kütiväed, Eesti Punased Kütid, Eestimaa Punaarmee, Eesti Punakaart) were military formations assembled starting 1917 in the
Soviet Russia
The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Russian SFSR or RSFSR ( rus, Российская Советская Федеративная Социалистическая Республика, Rossíyskaya Sovétskaya Federatívnaya Soci ...
.
Formation
Initially the battalions were formed by volunteers, and by conscription among the Estonian population. A total of about 5,000 men were drafted into the Estonian Riflemen Division. As late as November 1918 the fate of the country was still up for grabs, and the Bolshevik alternative was attractive to all those for whom a social revolution promised a new life. The concept of foreign rule is important here since the
Estonian Bolsheviks were soon seen to have abrogated national solidarity with their calls for
class struggle and came to be
perceive
Perception () is the organization, identification, and interpretation of sensory information in order to represent and understand the presented information or environment. All perception involves signals that go through the nervous system ...
d as foreign.
Russian Civil War and Estonian War of Independence
The Estonian Riflemen actively participated in the
Russian Civil War
{{Infobox military conflict
, conflict = Russian Civil War
, partof = the Russian Revolution and the aftermath of World War I
, image =
, caption = Clockwise from top left:
{{flatlist,
*Soldiers ...
and the
Estonian War of Independence
The Estonian War of Independence ( et, Vabadussõda, literally "Freedom War"), also known as the Estonian Liberation War, was a defensive campaign of the Estonian Army and its allies, most notably the United Kingdom, against the Bolshevik westw ...
. The Riflemen took an active part in the suppression of
anti-Bolshevik uprisings in
Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...
and
Yaroslavl
Yaroslavl ( rus, Ярослáвль, p=jɪrɐˈsɫavlʲ) is a city and the administrative center of Yaroslavl Oblast, Russia, located northeast of Moscow. The historic part of the city is a World Heritage Site, and is located at the confluenc ...
in 1918. The Estonian Riflemen were instrumental in the attempt to establish the
Commune of the Working People of Estonia
The Commune of the Working People of Estonia ( et, Eesti Töörahva Kommuun, initially '; russian: Эстляндская трудовая коммуна , or ETK) was an unrecognised government claiming the Bolshevik-occupied parts of Republic ...
while the elections to the
Estonian Constituent Assembly
The Estonian Constituent Assembly ( et, Asutav Kogu) was elected on 5–7 April 1919, called by the Estonian Provisional Government during the Estonian War of Independence.
Estonian Constituent Assembly elections
Activity
The 120 members of t ...
in April 1919 demonstrated the victory of the independent
nation state
A nation state is a political unit where the state and nation are congruent. It is a more precise concept than "country", since a country does not need to have a predominant ethnic group.
A nation, in the sense of a common ethnicity, may i ...
alternative. Simultaneously, the success of the
Estonian Social Democratic Workers' Party
The Estonian Social Democratic Workers' Party ( et, Eesti Sotsiaaldemokraatiline Tööliste Partei) was a political party in Estonia between 1917 and 1925. The leaders of the party, founded on platforms of patriotism, Estonian independence, an ...
served to demonstrate the lingering attractiveness of a social revolution within the national framework.
[ Although the ]Estonian Army
The Estonian Land Forces ( et, Maavägi), unofficially referred to as the Estonian Army, is the name of the unified ground forces among the Estonian Defense Forces where it has an offensive military formation role. It is currently the largest ...
had attained control over the territory of Estonia
Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...
by May 1919, its Estonian Red Army counterpart still active and the High Command of the Estonian Army decided to push their defence lines across the border into the Pskov region
Pskov Oblast (russian: Пско́вская о́бласть, ') is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast), located in the west of the country. Its administrative center is the types of inhabited localities in Russia, ...
. The offensive of the Petseri Battle Group began on May 13. The operation destroyed the Estonian Red Army, and captured Pskov on May 25, 1919. Re-formed in the rear, they fought against Anton Ivanovich Denikin
Anton Ivanovich Denikin (russian: Анто́н Ива́нович Дени́кин, link= ; 16 December Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates">O.S._4_December.html" ;"title="Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="nowiki/>Old Style and New St ...
, Nikolay Yudenich
Nikolai Nikolayevich Yudenich ( – 5 October 1933) was a commander of the Russian Imperial Army during World War I. He was a leader of the anti-communist White movement in Northwestern Russia during the Civil War.
Biography
Early life
Yuden ...
, and Pyotr Nikolayevich Wrangel
Baron Pyotr Nikolayevich Wrangel (russian: Пётр Никола́евич барон Вра́нгель, translit=Pëtr Nikoláevič Vrángel', p=ˈvranɡʲɪlʲ, german: Freiherr Peter Nikolaus von Wrangel; April 25, 1928), also known by his ni ...
.
Surrendering to Makhno in 1920
All through February, 1920 the Makhnovshchina
The Makhnovshchina () was an attempt to form a stateless anarchist society in parts of Ukraine during the Russian Revolution of 1917–1923. It existed from 1918 to 1921, during which time free soviets and libertarian communes operated un ...
was inundated with Red troops, including the 42nd Rifle Division and the Latvian & Estonian Division – in total at least 20,000 soldiers. After the souring and dissolution of Nestor Makhno
Nestor Ivanovych Makhno, The surname "Makhno" ( uk, Махно́) was itself a corruption of Nestor's father's surname "Mikhnenko" ( uk, Міхненко). ( 1888 – 25 July 1934), also known as Bat'ko Makhno ("Father Makhno"),; According to ...
's Revolutionary Insurgent Army of Ukraine
The Revolutionary Insurgent Army of Ukraine ( uk, Революційна Повстанська Армія України), also known as the Black Army or as Makhnovtsi ( uk, Махновці), named after their leader Nestor Makhno, was a ...
's alliance with the Bolsheviks, captured Red commanders and commissars were summarily executed. However, Makhno usually preferred to release the disarmed enlisted men that were captured, as "proletarian brothers", with a choice of joining his army or returning home, after all commanding officers were executed. This happened to an Estonian Red Army unit that surrendered to Makhno in 1920. Viktor Bilash
Viktor Fedorovych Bilash ( uk, Віктор Федорович Білаш; 1893 – 24 January 1938) was the Chief of Staff of the Revolutionary Insurgent Army of Ukraine (RIAU) under Nestor Makhno. A gifted military commander, Bilash himself pl ...
noted that even in the worst time for the revolutionary army, namely at the beginning of 1920, "In the majority of cases rank-and-file Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army ( Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, afte ...
soldiers were set free". Of course Bilash, as a colleague of Makhno's, was likely to idealize the punishment policies of the Batko. However, the facts bear witness that Makhno really did release "in all four directions" captured Red Army soldiers. This is what happened at the beginning of February 1920, when the insurgents disarmed the 10,000-strong Estonian Division in Huliaipole
Huliaipole ( uk, Гуляйполе ; ) is a city in Polohy Raion, Zaporizhzhia Oblast, Ukraine. It is known as the birthplace of Ukrainian anarchist revolutionary Nestor Makhno. In 2021, it had a population of Huliaipole was attacked by Russian ...
. To this it must be added that the Revolutionary Insurrectionary Army of Ukraine included a choir of Estonian musicians. The problem was further compounded by the alienation of the Estonians by Anton Denikin
Anton Ivanovich Denikin (russian: Анто́н Ива́нович Дени́кин, link= ; 16 December Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates">O.S._4_December.html" ;"title="Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="nowiki/>Old Style and New St ...
's inflexible Russian chauvinism and their refusal to fight with Nikolai Yudenich
Nikolai Nikolayevich Yudenich ( – 5 October 1933) was a commander of the Russian Imperial Army during World War I. He was a leader of the anti-communist White movement in Northwestern Russia during the Civil War.
Biography
Early life
Yuden ...
.Peter Anderson">Why did the Bolsheviks win the Russian Civil War? Peter Anderson (historian), Peter Anderson
compares the tactics and resources of the two sides./ref>
See also
* Aftermath of World War I
* Black Guards
Black Guards (russian: Чёрная гвардия, ) were armed groups of workers formed after the February Revolution and before the final Bolshevik suppression of other leftwing groups. They were the main strike force of the anarchists. They ...
* Estonian War of Independence
The Estonian War of Independence ( et, Vabadussõda, literally "Freedom War"), also known as the Estonian Liberation War, was a defensive campaign of the Estonian Army and its allies, most notably the United Kingdom, against the Bolshevik westw ...
* Freikorps in the Baltic
After 1918, the term Freikorps was used for the anti-communist paramilitary organizations that sprang up around the German Empire and the Baltics, as soldiers returned in defeat from World War I. It was one of the many Weimar paramilitary groups ...
* Ober Ost
, short for ( "Supreme Commander of All German Forces in the East"), was both a high-ranking position in the armed forces of the German Empire as well as the name given to the occupied territories on the German section of the Eastern Front of Wo ...
* Red Guards
Red Guards () were a mass student-led paramilitary social movement mobilized and guided by Chairman Mao Zedong in 1966 through 1967, during the first phase of the Cultural Revolution, which he had instituted.Teiwes According to a Red Guard lead ...
* Sich Riflemen
The Sich Riflemen Halych-Bukovyna Kurin ( uk, Січові Cтрільці з Галичини та Буковини) were one of the first regular military units of the Ukrainian People's Army. The unit operated from 1917 to 1919 and was for ...
* Soviet westward offensive of 1918–1919
The Soviet westward offensive of 1918–1919 was part of the campaign by the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic into areas abandoned by the Ober Ost garrisons that were being withdrawn to Germany following that country's defeat in Wor ...
* United Baltic Duchy
The United Baltic Duchy (german: Vereinigtes Baltisches Herzogtum, lv, Apvienotā Baltijas hercogiste, et, Balti Hertsogiriik), or alternatively the Grand Duchy of Livonia, was the name proposed during World War I by leaders of the local ...
References
{{Reflist
External links
Memorial Stone to the Soldiers of 8th Estonian Riflemen Regiment.
Erkki Bahovski, Täna - 23.02.1918
Kuura küla
1918 establishments in Russia
Estonian War of Independence
Military units and formations established in 1918