Yugoslavs in the politics of Russia's White Army governments. 1918-1920

The Civil War in Russia posed an important problem for the fighting sides to find allies and consolidate political, diplomatic, and military in solving internal and geopolitical tasks. As heads of governments, Admiral Kolchak and General Denikin saw the interaction with newly formed Slavic states - Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia - as a special factor in these processes. Official documents indicate their aspiration to retain Russia's leading role in the life of the Slavs to strengthen their international position Славянский мир в условиях современных вызовов ²¹³ in deciding their own fate at the Paris Peace Conference. The White Army governments sought to consolidate the Slavs, who shared cultural identity, the system of values and military and political attitudes in their struggle against “Germanism and Bolshevism”. Kolchak and Denikin, as well as some representatives of socio-political organisations, considered Serbs, Croatians, Slovenians, and Carpatho-Rusins as particularly congenial in terms of "their inclinations and general interests" among all other Slavic peoples. The anti-Soviet governments believed that the memory of Russia's fighting for Slavs' freedom had resulted in their loyalty to Russia and readiness to defend it. Thus, these governments supported the formation of military units consisting of Yugoslav prisoners of war (approximately 200,000 people in Russia) to fight against the Soviet power and also funded Southern Slavs' organisations. They established diplomatic relations with Serbia and the Yugoslav government. In the new conditions, the White Guards failed, however, to achieve a desired unity among Yugoslavs to protect Russian interests.

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