The Lost Opportunity: Attempts at Unification of the Anti-Bolsheviks:1917-1919

(Paperback)

Publishing Details

Classifications

Physical Properties

Description

The term "White movement" is commonly associated with the military struggle against the Soviet regime pursued by various anti-Bolshevik armies. Such a perception of the movement neglects the considerable effort undertaken by Russian political elites to organize political opposition to Bolshevik power. Acting through several multiparty organizations, these elites repeatedly attempted to form a common anti-Bolshevik front, to restore an all-Russian government and to liberate Russia from the Bolsheviks. In The Lost Opportunity, Lazarski explores these facets of the anti-Bolshevik struggle, which have been almost entirely ignored by historical scholarship. If we consider that the men and women who composed those elites were the most active and dynamic group in Russian civil society that neglect is striking. Their main taskthe restoration of an all-Russian governmentwas of utmost importance for the anti-Bolsheviks, whose main centers were located on the peripheries of the Russian Empire and often had contradictory goals. Due to the paucity of interest in the activity of White political elites, this book is a pioneering study.

Reviews

This compact well-organized volume traces the ultimately failed attempts of Russia's political elites to unify their resistance to the new Bolshevik state. . . . Scholars can be grateful that this remarkably intricate study fills in a piece of the Civil War-era puzzle. * The Russian Review *

Author Bio

Christopher Lazarski is Professor of History and Politics at Lazarski School of Commerce and Law in Warsaw, Poland.