Communism -- Soviet Union; Soviet Union -- History -- Revolution, 1917-1921
“Finally it all turned into rebellion. In one of their meetings, the
soldiers issued an appeal to refuse to drill, since they had decided to
fight no more. It was decided to isolate the rebels, and General
Zankievitch ordered all soldiers loyal to the Provisional Government to
leave the camp of Courtine, and to carry with them all ammunition. On
June 25th the order was executed; there remained at the camp only the
soldiers who said they would submit ‘conditionally’ to the Provisional
Government. The soldiers at the camp of Courtine received several times
the visit of the Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Armies abroad, of
Rapp, the Commissar of the Ministry of War, and of several
distinguished former exiles who wished to influence them, but these
attempts were unsuccessful, and finally Commissar Rapp insisted that
the rebels lay down their arms, and, in sign of submission, march in
good order to a place called Clairvaux. The order was only partially
obeyed; first 500 men went out, of whom 22 were arrested; 24 hours
later about 6,000 followed…. About 2,000 remained….
“It was decided to increase the pressure; their rations were
diminished, their pay was cut off, and the roads toward the village of
Courtine were guarded by French soldiers. General Zankievitch, having
discovered that a Russian artillery brigade was passing through France,
decided to form a mixed detachment of infantry and artillery to reduce
the rebels. A deputation was sent to the rebels; the deputation
returned several hours later, convinced of the futility of the
negotiations. On September 1st General Zankievitch sent an ultimatum to
the rebels demanding that they lay down their arms, and menacing in
case of refusal to open fire with artillery if the order was not obeyed
by September 3d at 10 o’clock.
“The order not being executed, a light fire of artillery was opened on
the place at the hour agreed upon. Eighteen shells were fired, and the
rebels were warned that the bombardment would become more intense. In
the night of September 3d 160 men surrendered. September 4th the
artillery bombardment recommenced, and at 11 o’clock, after 36 shells
had been fired, the rebels raised two white flags and began to leave
the camp without arms. By evening 8,300 men had surrendered. 150
soldiers who remained in the camp opened fire with machine-guns that
night. The 5th of September, to make an end of the affair, a heavy
barrage was laid on the camp, and our soldiers occupied it little by
little. The rebels kept up a heavy fire with their machine-guns.
September 6th, at 9 o’clock, the camp was entirely occupied…. After the
disarmament of the rebels, 81 arrests were made….”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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