The anti-Bolshevik coup in Vladivostok on May 26, 1921

   The purpose of the publication is to clarify the circumstances and events of the military-political confrontation in the Russian Far East at the end of 1920 - the first half of 1921, to reveal the motives and logic of the activities of the leaders of the anti-Bolshevik camp.

   After the defeat of the white troops in Transbaikalia, the troops of the Far Eastern Army retreated to the territory of China, in the area of the Manchuria station. The commander-in-chief of all armed forces and the marching ataman of the Cossack troops of the Russian Eastern Outskirts, Lieutenant General G. M. Semenov, reached an agreement with the Chinese authorities. The Far Eastern army was allowed to cross the state border on condition that the weapons were handed over to the Chinese side, after which the white units followed the Sino-Eastern Railway to the Southern Primorye of Russia, where the previously surrendered weapons were subject to return. Against this background, a conflict occurred between the commander-in-chief, Lieutenant General Ataman G. M. Semenov and part of the generals of the Far Eastern Army, led by its commander, Lieutenant General G. A. Verzhbitsky, and the army was split into two warring sides, the “Semenovites” and the “Kappelites”. Since the Primorsky Region was controlled by the Bolshevik-oriented regional government, the Whites began preparing an armed coup and seizure of power in Vladivostok, which was successfully carried out on May 26, 1921. The main content of the article is devoted to the substantive reconstruction of the causes and sequence of military events, the enumeration and characterization of key personalities, the identification of their motives and personal role, as well as the enumeration of the military formations and units involved. Among other things, the role of graduates of the Chita Military School, the history of which the author considered in a previous publication, is shown. To convey the “spirit of the epoch”, the most informative memoirs of the participants in the events and the orders of the white command are quoted, which are introduced into a wide scientific circulation.

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