Documents from the Central State Archive of the Udmurt Republic on Establishing a Military Commissariats Network within the Territory of Udmurtia

94(47).093.2

DOI 10.28995/2073-0101-2018-1-74-83

Sergey S. Ashihmin

State Archive of the Udmurt Republic, Izhevsk, Russian Federation

Documents from the Central State Archive of the Udmurt Republic on Establishing a Military Commissariats Network within the Territory of Udmurtia

Abstract

Drawing on materials from the Central State Archive of the Udmurt Republic, the article studies the establishing and functioning of the military commissariats network in the first years of the Soviet power. The outspread of the Civil War and the Allied Intervention therein necessitated calling up citizens, primarily workers and peasants, for compulsory military service. The establishment of the commissariats for military affairs marked the beginning of accounting of able-bodied males and their conscription into the armed forces. Volost, uezd, and gubernia commissariats for military affairs were organized by volost, uezd, and gubernia Soviets of workers', soldiers' and peasants' deputies; commissars and military leaders of volost, uezd, and gubernia commissariats were appointed by volost, uezd, and gubernia Soviets respectively and by the People's Commissariat for Military Affairs. Studying activities of local military authorities is of great importance, as it allows to see beyond central authorities actions, to understand how their decisions were implemented at the local level. Consequently, this allows to evidentiate the process of the Soviet armed forces creation in all its multiformity and complexity. On the territory of Udmurtia, armed hostilities continued from August 1918 to late June 1919, and newly formed military commissariats had to perform many tasks, both peaceful and military. First and foremost, they had to account of and mobilize officers and soldiers returning from the fronts of First World War. Much effort was required to drill recruits who had no military training. The military commissariats were also to prevent the widely spreading desertion. These functions were performed under difficult circumstances of rapidly shifting front lines, as areas and towns of the Vyatka gubernia repeatedly passed from the Reds to the Whites and back again.

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Keywords

Central State Archive of the Udmurt Republic, historical source, Civil War, military commissariats, deserters.

References

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About author

Ashikhmin Sergey Sergeevich, Central State Archive of the Udmurt Republic, documents usage department, leading specialist, Izhevsk, Russian Federation +7-909-065-42-86, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Submitted 4.05.2017, published:

ASHIKHMIN, S. S. Dokumenty Tsentral'nogo gosudarstvennogo arkhiva Udmurtskoi Respubliki o formirovanii sistemy voennykh komissariatov na territorii Udmurtii v pervye gody sovetskoi vlasti [Documents from the Central State Archive of the Udmurt Republic on Establishing a Military Commissariats Network within the Territory of Udmurtia. In Russ.]. IN: Vestnik arhivista / Herald of an Archivist, 2018, no. 1, pp. 74-83. doi 10.28995/2073-0101-2018-1-74-83