For a United Russia? The White Movement’s Rejection of National Self‐Determination, 1918–20

Abstract

For obvious reasons, the White Movement rarely features in works concerning national self‐determination in the aftermath of the First World War. Beyond the looming shadows of Woodrow Wilson and V. I. Lenin, the “governments” of White generals that swore allegiance to A. V. Kolchak made no secret of their desire for a Russia “one and indivisible.” Those responsible for drafting Omsk’s edicts were suspicious of self‐determination’s apparent Germano‐Bolshevik origins. Analyzing the so‐called Russian state’s resistance to both the term and concept of national self‐determination—and its relatively novel association with secession—highlights the self‐defeating nature of Kolchak’s policies on the matter. Moreover, and most significantly for wider discussions on national self‐determination during the period, the White Movement’s rejection of federalism in any form, coupled with the stalling progress of White armies, the conclusion of the Paris Peace Conference, and the consolidation of Soviet Russia made statehood for Russia’s neighbor nations more realistic, logical, and justifiable. The political failures of the White Movement contributed to the feasibility of small states in the eyes of both the Allies and the national peoples themselves, and this warrants attention.