All the general's men (Tomsk military authority during the Russian civil war)

The article's main goal is to deepen and enhance еруhistorical knowledge of the Siberian officer corps during the period of existence of the Anti-Bolsheviks governments in 1918-1919. The primary targets are the following: to specify the place and the role of the regional military elite in army-authority relationships; to identify the number and the quality of the higher command authority in Tomsk during the Russian Civil War; to describe the scope and the result of the military-organizational, socio-political activity of the Tomsk generals and to clarify their further destiny. The author uses methods that are traditional for the historic research and the methods used in political studies such as structural-functional, institutional as well. The research is mainly based on the materials kept in two Russian central archives and two regional state archives, publications from periodicals, memoirs of the participants of the Civil War. The research showed that during the military-revolutionary period, Tomsk was an important military and political center of Russia. The city's garrison was one of the largest in the east of the country. Until 1918 Tomsk's upper military echelons consisted mostly of colonels and lieutenant-colonels. There were very few generals. After the beginning of the Civil War their number increased sharply. The biggest reinforcement of the general officers happened when the commands and the headquarters of the 1^st Middle Siberian Corps, the 1^st Siberian Army, the Omsk military command region and of the Military Academy of the General Staff were settled there. During 1.5 years of "the White" rule in Tomsk more than 30 generals and one rear admiral (counter admiral) were there. Among them there were both old, pre-revolutionary generals, and those who were made generals when the Provisional Siberian Government and the Russian Provisional Government were in power. The relationships between generals of the "old school" and young generals were often tensed. The author justifies that while the generals were in Tomsk, they were responsible for forming military units, for their armament, material supplies; they organized manpower training, inspection, etc. Their actions led to strengthening of the Anti-Bolsheviks forces with dozens of thousands of soldiers and officers. At the same time some generals headed the garrison of Tomsk, suppressed anti-governmental revolts not only in the city but far beyond its borders as well. Their activity was in line with the militarization of the "white" regime and with drawing the generals into politics. High ranking officers cooperated with Tomsk authorities and business community. Many generals-professors of the Military Academy of the General Staff participated in local scientific, social, cultural life. After the Bolsheviks rule had been restored in Siberia, many generals who served in Tomsk, were taken captive and executed or died in Soviet prisons, some of them immigrated.

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