The publicistic writings of Major General Alexander Andogsky in the East of Russia, November 1918 – December 1919

During the Russian Civil War, public information about the situation on the fronts was of fundamental importance to contemporaries. The adequacy of many vital decisions, as well as the behavior and actions of both statesmen and ordinary citizens, depended on how accessible, reliable, and complete the information about the combat operations was. In the antiBolshevik camp of eastern Russia, military reviews providing a comprehensive picture of the military-strategic situation in the country appeared and became publicly accessible in the periodical press thanks to the head of the Academy of the General Staff, Professor General Alexander Andogsky (1876-1931). Identifying the entire body of his publicistic works from the Civil War period allows us to evaluate the dynamics, purpose, and quality of public military-expert information of the anti-Bolshevik forces. The research is based on materials from the periodical press of Siberia and the Urals, with the involvement of archival documents from the editorial office of the newspaper Russkaya Armiya [Russian Army], memoirs and diaries of contemporaries of the events. More than 140 articles, reviews, and essays by Andogsky have been identified in the newspapers of eastern Russia in 1918-1919. More than half of them were published in the leading official newspaper of Alexander Kolchak's military dictatorship, Russkaya Armiya. In November - December 1918, Andogsky was the first author of Russkaya Armiya, writing as an informed representative of the ruling elite and defending the liberal hypostasis of Kolchak's authoritarian regime. From F ebruary to March 1919, the collaboration was terminated due to a reputational scandal surrounding Andogsky. While distanced from power, Andogsky actively collaborated with private socio-political newspapers Sibirskaya Zhizn ’ [Siberian Life] and Svobodnyy Kray [Free Land], using the independent press to maintain his own reputation as a military expert and to return to the military-political leadership. In April - June 1919, contact with the editorial office of Russkaya Armiya was re-established on the condition of publishing under a pseudonym. Finally, in July - August and October 1919, Andogsky again became a leading author for the military newspaper. By this time, he had joined the high military command, and the task of his publicistic works became the moral support of the defeated army. Throughout the Civil War, the main themes of Andogsky's publications were the events on the fronts of the Russian Civil War, issues of foreign policy, and intervention. The most informative were his texts about the successes of the anti-Bolshevik armies in December 1918, while the failures and the ultimate collapse of Admiral Kolchak's eastern front were not covered. The central themes in Andogsky's works were myths about an "iron ring" encircling the Bolsheviks and their imminent defeat. Andogsky's articles reveal a chronic lack of information about the Red Army, its underestimation, and consistent belittling. Such military reviews could not serve as a basis for correct decisions and effective actions at the highest military-political level, and they also hindered the formation of adequate public opinion. The author declares no conflicts of interests.

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