Bolshevik Leaders correspondence

Bolshevik leadership Correspondence. 1912-1927
Collection of documents 1996.
Compiled by: A.V.Kvashonkin, L.P.Kosheleva, L.A.Rogovaya, O.V.Khlevnyuk.

S. M. Budyonny to V. I. Lenin

[later April 6, 1921]

Hello, dear Vladimir Ilyich!

Received a directive from the Revolutionary Military Council of the Republic, which says that the army should be closer to the Western borders. In short, keep dying. I asked the army to move to the Don, Kuban and Stavropol, pointed out that this was only one of its salvations 1. I have decided to tell you that the army will be liquidated in Ukraine by the end of May. The horses are dying. I see in this one salvation to make the Don, Kuban and Stavropol a cavalry district, transfer the army there and instruct the Revolutionary Military Council of the Cavalry to carry out all this so that we have a permanent cavalry. I know that this is not the Western border and not a single bastard would be afraid of us if they kept the cavalry as I say, but if they are kept in Ukraine, then we will not have any cavalry. I doubt that Western Europe will attack us this year. Here I see that they are afraid to transfer the Cavalry to the Don, Kuban and Stavropol, that it will be an assistant to the rebels there. But this is not true. I take it upon myself and answer with my head that there will be one. That if only I had to move from there to the front, then I would come out with two such armies. I earnestly ask you not to be afraid when I tell you that this is all true, and I will do everything that should be of great benefit to our country. You just order. It seems to me that you are the Trifonov brothers2 incorrectly inform about the army, since they do not want its arrival to the Don. The issue of preserving the cavalry requires special attention to the horse composition. Its combat effectiveness and power depend on this, and it does not tolerate any delay, it worsens every day. On the basis of starvation and the death of horses, discontent can grow. It's all obvious to me, but no one can understand my blatant voice 3 .

Your Budyonny.

RTSKHIDNI. F. 5. On. 1. D. 930. L. 3. Typewritten text. Signature - autograph.

Notes:

oneOn March 18, 1921, a peace treaty was concluded between the RSFSR and the Ukrainian SSR, on the one hand, and Poland, on the other. The conditions were dictated by Poland, which won the confrontation. The Soviet-Polish border was established much to the east of the Curzon Line. The western lands of Ukraine and Belarus departed to Poland. An indemnity of 30 million gold rubles was imposed on Soviet Russia. Both sides viewed the agreement as temporary. The 1st Cavalry Army, as one of the strongest divisions of the Red Army, was ordered to move to the Western borders. In addition to strategic goals, the transfer of the army to the West was due to fears that the transfer of the army to the Don would lead to its collapse and intensification of banditry at the expense of the demobilized (Genis V. L. The First Cavalry Army: Behind the Scenes of Glory // Questions of History. 1994. No. 12. P. 76; RTSKHIDNI, F. 2. On. 1. D. 18266. L. 5).

2A. and E. A. Trifonovs - active participants in hostilities on the fronts where the 1st Cavalry Army fought - repeatedly wrote to the center about the outrages perpetrated by the army. A serious conflict occurred between V. A. Trifonov and Budyonny in January-February 1920 on the Caucasian front. (See note 1 to document No. 64). In their complaints about the 1st Cavalry Army, the Trifonovs were not alone. On April 6, 1921, Budyonny had already written a letter to Lenin regarding the accusations against the army: “[...] I could no longer remain silent and decided to tell you at least briefly,” he began his message, “what is happening in relation to the army from our comrades. The attitude is not at all better, as well as from the side of Savinkov, Balakhovich and the entire camp hostile to us. Only the difference lies in the following: the camp hostile to us is trying to infuse more of its agents into the ranks of our army, to decompose it from the inside in an illegal way. Our comrades, consciously or unconsciously, openly decompose it and slander it, starting with the smallest military and civil institution and ending with the center [...] ”Declaring the need (in order to preserve) to transfer the army to the Don, Budyonny raised the question that in case of refusal, he relieves himself of responsibility for the army and asks to be removed from command of it (RTSKHIDNI. F. 5. On. 1. D. 930. L. 1-2).

On April 20, 1921, the Politburo of the Central Committee instructed the RVSR and the RVS of the 1st Cavalry Army to reduce the composition of the army and transfer it to the Manych area (Ibid. F. 17. Op. 3. D. 153. L. 5).