Antonov uprising: Was there a large-scale use of poison gases against peasants hiding in the forest

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Antonov uprising: Was there a large-scale use of poison gases against peasants hiding in the forest

One of the most discussed topics regarding the uprising of peasants in the Tambov province of 1920-1921 is the use of chemical weapons against the Antonovites. weapons.

Recall that at the end of May 1921, active actions of the Red Army began to eliminate the almost 50 thousandth army of Tambov rebels under the command of A.S. Antonov.



After a crushing defeat from the cavalry brigade G.I. Kotovsky on May 25 and the combined maneuver group I.P. Uborevich on June 2-7, the remnants of Antonov's "rebel army" hid in the Tambov forests.

Given the fact that the participants in the insurgent movement were well versed in the terrain and had a wide agent network, attempts to pursue disparate groups in the forest would hardly have brought results.

At the same time, the commander of the troops of the Tambov province, M.N. Tukhachevsky, received an order: to liquidate the uprising in no more than a month.

As one of the ways to solve the problem that arose, they considered "smoking out" the peasants who had settled in the forest with the help of chemical weapons. The corresponding order, providing for the dispatch of cylinders with poisonous substances and specialists, was issued and distributed by Tukhachevsky on June 12, 1921.

Despite the fact that more than 2 thousand cylinders with toxic substances were delivered to the Tambov province, according to archival documents, only 2 (with chlorine) were used, and then during the “trial fumigation”. There is also information about the use of 15 artillery shells with toxic substances by the Red Army.

Thus, there was no talk of any massive chemical attack against the insurgent peasants, in which Tukhachevsky is often blamed. However, it could have taken place if not for a number of reasons.

Firstly, at the disposal of the command of the troops of the Tambov province there were no specialists who could cope with the task assigned to them. A platoon of cadets of the Himrota, who arrived from Inzhavino, turned out to be completely unprepared.

Secondly, in Moscow they gave Tukhachevsky the “go-ahead” to carry out a chemical attack, provided that the inhabitants of nearby villages and livestock did not suffer from it.

At the same time, it was not advisable to send warnings to local peasants, since they would instantly transmit information about the impending attack to the rebels, and it was extremely difficult to accurately calculate the direction and area of ​​distribution of poisonous substances.

The historian Pavel Aptekar tells in detail about the Tambov uprising in the video below:

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12 comments
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  1. -7
    11 January 2023 18: 08
    At the same time, it was inappropriate to send warnings to local peasants, as they would instantly transmit information about the impending attack to the rebels.

    To whom did Lenin and Trotsky try to organize happiness?
    1. 0
      23 January 2023 12: 07
      Quote from invisible_man
      To whom did Lenin and Trotsky try to organize happiness?

      They didn't "try", but they founded the USSR. From the first try. States have existed for thousands of years not for happiness, but so that the beautiful peoples of the World do not threaten themselves in the most brutal way.. This is one of the fundamental tenets of Marxism. (Engels' work "The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State")
      Only the descendants of serfs believe that some master owes them something all the time ..... But the master cannot understand this in any way. Know your oppression ....
    2. 0
      20 February 2023 00: 40
      Quote from invisible_man
      To whom did Lenin and Trotsky try to organize happiness?

      then the Russian leadership will undertake, taking into account the fact that "the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation will run out of tanks in two or three years"


      Stalin knew what he was doing. He knew the enemies of the people, and how to deal with them.
      Tukhach was the enemy of the people - Trotsky's "falcon".

      Naglosmaks are now justifying tukhesa ...
      What does the name Tukhacha Tuhesa mean?
      That's it. Meaning what he was
  2. -1
    11 January 2023 18: 28
    Pavel Aptekar well done, with his study of this landmark event, he changed the surplus appropriation to food tax.
    And, here is his interlocutor laughing and inserting inappropriate remarks. It was a tragedy for people. There was enough unjustified cruelty on the part of the Soviet authorities. I remember the stories of my grandmother.
    1. +2
      11 January 2023 18: 46
      Yeah, and if you sort it out, it turns out: we just peacefully tried to let them out of their guts, and how they began to commit atrocities !!!
      The situation repeats itself very steadily. An attempt to attribute atrocities to people who are trying to take power in the country by inspiring the people as their only support - with sound reasoning, turn out to be absurd.
      However, nothing new, I remember the Poles cursed Suvorov for the murders: while civilians with weapons in their hands ... this bastard came and killed them.
      1. +1
        12 January 2023 05: 07
        Nikita
        You are absolutely right.
        The author invites us to vote and slips the topic about * chemistry *.
        Along the way, the author lied about the rebellion itself, but this fades into the background *. The lie is already confirmed. The cunning of such a presentation is increasingly common.
        A little later, they will again talk about those events and once again omit, as not essential, the atrocities and outright bestiality * of the rebels *. And they killed doctors, teachers, government officials TOGETHER WITH THE FAMILIES. Killed in the most brutal ways.
        The Antonov brothers placed their younger ones in SOVIET orphanages that *nobly* were not robbed. But the rest * shelters * were robbed in the most brutal ways. They took away food, killed educators.
        By the way, the monasteries with churches * Antonovites * also robbed. The bandits, redeeming themselves for forgiveness, handed over caches with church gold-silver-pebbles. There were icon frames, priestly crosses on chains, and pectoral crosses.
  3. +2
    11 January 2023 20: 21
    Together with the uprising in Kronstadt and Western Siberia, the Antonov rebellion was the last bright flash of the flames of the gradually fading civil war in Russia. In the cinema, "Antonovshchina" did not find so many reflections: back in Soviet times, the feature films "Loneliness" (1964) and "On the wolf's trail" (1976) were shot. No more than this, the mentioned tragic events of 1921-22 were also reflected in Soviet literature. Now there has been a reassessment of historical values, which also affected this period of history. But no matter how you look at it, these revolutionary convulsions laid and marked the beginning of a very important era in Soviet history - the transition to the New Economic Policy (NEP).
  4. +2
    11 January 2023 21: 23
    So that's why there was a chemical protection school in Tambov! good
  5. +1
    20 January 2023 09: 50
    Quote from invisible_man
    At the same time, it was inappropriate to send warnings to local peasants, as they would instantly transmit information about the impending attack to the rebels.

    To whom did Lenin and Trotsky try to organize happiness?


    Honest workers. Who, for the most part, did not join such rebellions, but, on the contrary, helped to suppress them.

    Interestingly, in today's France, it is customary to shed crocodile tears about the "brutally tortured Vendée", calls to repent for the innocently murdered Louis 16 are heard, the leaders of their Great Revolution are poured with mud?
    Or maybe the Bastille was rebuilt and the Marseillaise was cancelled? laughing
  6. +1
    22 January 2023 22: 17
    In 2002, gas was used on Dubrovka in Moscow and about one and a half hundred people died, 700 were injured.
    And like nothing.

    And here are two shells with a very controversial OM (either chlorine, or a teardrop) and pity - -: WMD was used. There are no data on specific victims at all.
    If the artillery of the Red Army made shelling with conventional shells and everything was razed to hell there, would there be no topic?
    Typical mind control.
  7. +1
    23 January 2023 11: 57
    Not only Antonovites are peasants with weapons. But the Red Army soldiers are also peasants with weapons.
    Some peasants against other peasants.
  8. The comment was deleted.
  9. -1
    22 February 2023 01: 04
    What an interesting name for a historian. Originally goose.

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