After the Armistice

[agblume]

Hello Ricardo Reis, The Reds and the Whites had many armored trains. They served on all fronts, not just Siberia. Best regards, agblume

[David_Layton]

In Dayton, Dick Bennett gave the excellent talk on the German Freikorps units which pushed into the Baltic countries, only to be instructed by the Inter-Allied commission that they were not susposed to be doing this.

I hope that a book could come out on this. Russian school children know more about the attacks on Russia in 1918-1920 than we learn in the west. In college, 1977, I took a semester of ROTC Military History which was taught by an Army major. We got the line that the invasion of Vladavostok (sp) was only to liberate the Czech POW's. That's not what I read later.

[agblume]

Hello David Layton, There are really only two people who would have the information necessary to write a book on Freikorps aviation in the Baltics. They are Dick Bennett and Moshe Bukhman in Israel. Both have been very kind in sharing much of their information with me. I have already sent the Freikorps aviation files to the Museum of Flight in Seattle (along with most of my archive), where it can be made available to others interested in these subjects.

The German Freikorps land and air forces were ostensibly sent to the Baltics to stem the Red forces attempting to defeat the Estonians, Latvians and Lithuanians, which were supported to some degree by the British. The White Russians also had an army under the command of General Yudenich and a motley crew under Avalov-Bermondt.

German troops had been promised plots of land in the Baltic countries by their leaders. The story of their involvement in these struggles is a fascinating one. There are a number of books on the subject in German and English. So far no one has done the definitive book on their aviation. Best regards, agblume

[agblume]

As mentioned a few days ago I promised to post some links to downloadable bibliographies and other materials from my Warchron website. Unfortunately we have had to close down the Warchron Forum for security reasons and lack of member participation. The following statement appears in the Warchron Mission statement.

At present Warchron consists of historian August Blume and web site designer and partner Larry Seawell. The subject of Warchron is Russian military (land-sea-air) - political-social history, a chronology covering the Pre-War period from 1894-1914, World War One 1914-1917, and the Russian Civil War period; including the Wars of National Independence, Polish-Soviet War and Allied Intervention. The many other belligerents involved in the conflicts of these periods are also addressed in some detail.

The primary purpose of Warchron is educational, hoping to build an online worldwide community of interest by stimulating and broadening a dialogue on these topics. Should we meet those needs in the future we would hope to develop a donation mechanism enabling us to keep Warchron alive and growing.

Over many years August Blume has accumulated historical materials and research sources having to do with Russian and European history on a variety of levels, pre-war, WWI and 1918-1922 periods. This has resulted in the compilation of three bibliographies, one broadly military-political, a second covering Russian aviation, a third called AeroBib, which lists a variety of printed materials on the aviation of other combatants. A fourth download, Geographical Regions, may prove helpful geographically. These can be freely downloaded by clicking on the following links:
1. RUSSBOOK.BIB.zip
2. RUSSAERO-BIB.zip
3. AEROBIBLIO-PROJECT.zip
4. GeographRegions.zip
This interesting map of part of the eastern front and the Balkans was made available by Regulus and can be found below. We are most grateful to Johan

3felmeres.htm

I would be most appreciative if those downloading these links would let me know they have done so and which ones they downloaded. It would help give me some idea of the level of interest in these topics and whether I should continue to try to keep my Warchron website alive. Thank you.

You can reach me at agblume@warchron.com.
Best Regards, agblume

[agblume]

I'm happy to see that there have a fairly large number of views of this thread, but am curious whether anyone has downloaded any of the bibliographies. And if so, whether they might have found them useful. Thank you. Best regards, agblume

[Barrett]

The 33-page bibliography is a stunner! I confess that I downloaded more from curiosity as to the historiography than an intent to obtain any of the volumes cited. However, Czarist aviation is of some interest to me largely because of the marvelous insights from Sergei Sikorsky in recent years.

[agblume]

Hello Barrett, Thank you for letting me know you downloaded the military bibliography. As you'll see, there are quite a few books and articles available on the British involvement during the Intervention period. The books by Zeman about the German funding of the Bolsheviks, and the extent of it, are particularly fascinating. I hope others will let me know if they make a download. The hope is to create more interest in researching the history of the period. Best regards, agblume

[retread]

I downloaded the bibliographies, both they and the map are excellent.

I have just finished "With the Armies of the Tsar" by Florence Farmborough, an Englishwomen who served as a Red Cross nurse with the Imperial Russian Army for three years on the Eastern Front. The book is a combination of a field journal/ rewrite of those experiences. She evidently appeared on a BBC series titled "Yesterday's Witness" in the mid-seventies. The book was heavily edited and contains only about half of the original material. A pity.
Two points that stick with me were the fact the many Russian's felt they were deserted by their allies and left to face the Austrian/German forces alone on the Eastern Front with only token assistance. This conviction increased markedly with the revolution when loyal Russians felt abandoned in their hour of need to Bolshevik thugs.

[agblume]

Hello Retread, Thanks for the kind words about the bibliographies and the maps. Hope they will be useful to you.. I've read the book you refer to as well as other books by English authors and journalists who lived in Russia, both pre-war and during WWI. They all have interesting insights to share and were valuable reads. Unfortunately they did not always have the chance to get a true picture of what was going on.

I would suggest that you take some time and visit the Warchron Chronology, which contains not only the military actions, but a broad picture of the political and social events that shaped the course of the war. The nobility, including the Tsar's mother had lost confidence in his ability to rule, having become more than aware of the strong influence of the Empress Alexandra and the machinations of Rasputin. They were also well aware that the Ministerial appointments made by the Tsar were disastrous to the nation as a whole. The massive propaganda effort by the Bolsheviks (funded by the German Foreign Ministry in Berlin) paid off with the disillusionment of the troops and workers and foment for revolution eight months after the abdication of the Tsar.

You should also read the memoirs of George Buchanan, the British Ambassador to Russia, as well as those of the French Ambassador Mr. Paleologue. These were brilliant men and well aware of the inside story of the progression of events. Both had networks of agents who reported almost daily on their findings. They saw what was coming but there was no way to stop it. In truth, the Russians did not feel deserted by the Allies, who continued to send Military Missions, instructors, aircraft and tons of supplies well into 1917.

It's a fascinating history, not well known to most Westeners. I hope you and others will be encouraged to explore it. Aviation at the front does not always happen in a vacuum. Bureaucracy plays a larger role than most realize. And of course profiteering was not unknown.

My two volume history of the Russian Military Air Fleet is complete and ready to go to Schiffer Books next week. The Chronology in Vol.1, although focused on the development of the Air Fleet includes much about the military, political and social events that shaped the course of the war.
Best regards, agblume

[Ricardo Reis]

The map is indeed superb. The bibliography simply smashed me for it's sheer volume.