Russian All-Military Union
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The Russian All-Military Union (in Russian Русский Обще-Воинский Союз, abbreviated РОВС, ROVS) was founded by White Army General Pyotr Wrangel in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes on September 1, 1924. This organization united all veterans of the Russian White movement, soldiers and officers alike, who were living abroad and desired to stay united for the purpose of purging Russia from the Bolshevik regime. The Union, known in Russian as the "ROVS", also tried to conduct operations within the USSR for the purpose of starting a national anti-communist uprising. The ROVS was formed outside of Soviet Russia.
Aside from anti-communism, the ROVS did not have an official political orientation, somewhat adhering to the old Russian military dictum which said "The Army is outside of politics" (in Russian "Армия вне политики"), believing that the political orientation of Russia cannot be predetermined by émigrés living outside of its borders (the philosophy of "non-predetermination" or in Russian "непредрешенчество"). Many (but not all) of its members had monarchist sympathies of varying flavors: constitutional vs. autocratic, Romanov vs. non-Romanov oriented.
The ROVS, along with other similar Russian émigré organizations, became a prime target for the Soviet secret police, the OGPU. The OGPU set up a fake anti-communist monarchist organization, the Monarchist Union of Central Russia, which was successfully used to confuse and later demoralize the ROVS. They also successfully instituted a secret provocational organization within the ROVS known as the "Inner Line" (in Russian "Внутренная Линия"), controlled by the double-agent General Nikolai Skoblin, which masqueraded as a patriotic Russian intelligence organization.[clarification needed] By the time the "Inner Line" was exposed by the Russian émigré organization National Alliance of Russian Solidarists (NTS), two of the ROVS's leaders, General Alexander Kutepov and General Evgenii Miller, were kidnapped and taken by force to the USSR in 1930 and 1937 respectively. By the time World War II started the ROVS lost most of its significance and influence. During the war the ROVS maintained a cautious position, not siding officially with Nazi Germany or the Soviet Union, but waiting for the emergence of an independent Russian Liberation Army.
The ROVS continued to be active into the 1990s, having evolved into an organization that was principally concerned with the historical preservation of the pre-communist and anti-communist Russian military tradition. In the ROVS's possession are a significant number of Russian imperial and White Army battle flags and standards, which are meant to be returned to Russia when "a national Russian army" is once again in existence.
Since 1992, the Union has been active in Russia and the headquarters moved there in 2000. The Union is headed currently by I.B. Ivanov, a historian, social activist and a member of the anti-communist movement in the USSR.[1]
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[edit] List of ROVS Chairmen/Commanders
- General Pyotr Wrangel (1924–1928) (as the commander of the Russian Army)
- Grand Duke General Nikolai Nikolaevich Romanov (1924–1929) (as the supreme commander of all Russian forces, in concurrence with General Wrangel)
- General Alexander Pavlovich Kutepov (1929–1930)
- General Evgenii Karlovich Miller (1930–1937)
- General Feodor Feodorovich Abramov (1937–1938)
- General Alexei Petrovich Arkhangelsky (1938–1957)
- General Alexei Alexandrovich Von Lampe (1957–1967)
- General Vladimir Grigorievich Zharzhevsky (1967–1979)
- Captain Vladimir Petrovich Osipov (1979–1983)
- Starshina Vladimir Ivanovich Diakov (1983–1984)
- Lieutenant Peter Alekseevich Kalenichenko (1984–1986)
- Captain Boris Mihailovich Ivanov (1986–1988)
- Sotnik Nikita Ivanovich Iovich (1988–1988)
- Lieutenant Vladimir Vladimirovich Granitov (1988–1989)
- Captain Vladimir Nikolaevich Butkov (1989–2000)
- Lieutenant Vladimir Aleksandrovich Vishnevsky (2000–2000)
- Igor Borisovich Ivanov (2000–)
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- M.V. Nazarov, The Mission of the Russian Emigration, Moscow: Rodnik, 1994. ISBN 5-86231-172-6
- Russian All-Military Union (rus)
- History of ROVS(rus)
