In Russian Civil War, Only Buddhist Kalmyks Almost Unanimously Backed Anti-Bolshevik Forces

Paul Goble

            Staunton, Oct. 19 – The centenary of the Russian civil war following the Bolshevik coup has been the occasion for many peoples of the Russian Federation to consider their involvement in that conflict. Most were deeply divided between “reds” and “whites.” Only one was completely on the side of the anti-Bolshevik White Russian forces.

            That was the Kalmyk nation, a Buddhist people in the North Caucasus, whose effectives fought almost exclusively for the Whites against the Reds and whom the Bolsheviks were never able to raise a counterforce. All such attempts failed with those forced into the Red Army deserting at the first opportunity (centrasia.org/news.php?st=1635852300).

            Under the Russian Empire, the Kalmyks were given some support but were divided among three administrative subdivisions and did not have homogenous Kalmyk Cossack units. Instead, they participated in several other Cossack formations. But when the February revolution occurred, they sought to form a single Kalmyk cossackry with the Astrakhan Cossack Host.

            On July 28, 1917, the Union of Cossack Hosts meeting in Novocherkassk voted to accept all Kalmyks into Cossack units; and a few months later, these became essential elements in the White movement in South Russia and in the North Caucasus. There were tensions, but the Kalmyks played such an important role that the White leadership supported them.

Following the defeat of the White movement, most Kalmyk leaders emigrated. One who returned, Danzan Tundutov, was executed by the Soviets in 1923. He was posthumously rehabilitated only in 1993.

For most people, the history of the Kalmyks of a century ago may seem no more than a curiosity, but in fact, it has some amazing echoes in more recent history. On the one hand, Kalmyk Cossacks, who continue to be supporters of state legitimacy, went to Ukraine to help defend against Russian aggression (windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2014/08/window-on-eurasia-buddhist-cossacks-to.html).

And on the other, the Kalmyk Cossacks continue to be active and only a few months ago indicated that anyone seeking to head their ethno-national Cossack host must gain the blessing of Buddhists loyal to the Dalai Lama (windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2021/09/kalmyk-cossack-leaders-must-now-receive.html).

None of these developments fit the model of Russian historical development that Vladimir Putin and his regime have promoted with so much success not only among Russians but in the West as well.