The VSVR Civil War 1883-1884
With the Republic becoming increasingly chaotic in the Summer of 1883 Lenin resolved to restore order by force. On July 2nd, with Kropotkin heading towards oblivion with his indecision over the latest crisis with the RTCU, Malatesta and Kadon left Cologne. Malatesta headed East to organise the Anarchist militia in Prussia, Brandenburg and Republican Poland whilst Kadon headed for Southern Germany. On July 6th Kropotkin delivered his ultimatum to the RTCU, ordering them to submit. Yet by this time it was simply too late and with daily protests in the capital against the government Lenin acted. On July 8th a division of Red Guards marched into Cologne. They swiftly arrested the RTCU leadership, Kropotkin and the Independents still in the capital. Martial Law was proclaimed until order could be restored with Schlieffen and Lenin placed as joint leaders of the Republic as Extraordinary Commissars (a new position created for the two).
Whilst the Anarchists had their militia and the Marxist the Red Army (or at least most of it) the Trade Unions had no armed force to protect themselves. In the early days of the Civil War large groups of workers tried to hold back both Anarchist and Marxist forces from attacking the Unions directly, but with both forces violently anti-Union the Trade Unions were effectively destroyed within the first few weeks of the conflict. Raided of their money reserves, shorn of their political power and severed from industry they were a non-entity during the conflict.
The use of force in Republican politics was something both feared and despised by the common people of the Republic and this gave a huge boost to the wavering popular support for the Anarchists. Therefore when the Anarchist militiamen started to rise up from July 9th they received a significant level of support from the people. This was invaluable for the Anarchists as they faced an enemy with virtually the entire military on its side.
For most of July the two sides simply faced to secure territory with the only truly heavy fighting occurring in Belgium where Red Army unit fought Red Army unit in their barracks along the Franco-VSVR border.
By the end of July the situation had become clear. In the West the Anarchists were firmly in control of Belgium but lacked strong leadership in that sector. In the North they had secured the vital port of Kiel and Lubeck as well as the Kiel Canal – which would allow their forces in Belgium and in Prussia to support one another. In the East Malatesta had displayed strong military leadership to quickly pounce forth from Anarchist strongholds along the Baltic to secure much of Poland and Prussia, but much more importantly he held the city of Berlin. Finally, in the South, Kadon small but exceedingly well drilled Army had captured lands stretching from the Swiss border to the very centre of the Republic. Frustratingly, however, he had failed to take the city of Munich which was occupied by a small Red Army garrison.
Trapped in a territory with comparatively little radical Anarchist support Kadon relied on propaganda to swell the ranks of his Army, and not very sophisticated propaganda either. The above photo attached with the tagline – ‘’Kadon saves babies from hungry Marxists’’. Amazingly the portrayal of himself as a staunch anti-cannibal was very successful for the enigmatic Kadon.
‘’Freedom!’’ – Comrade Ricainfier died shortly after his charge at Arlon.
After the initial shock of the successes of the Anarchists the Marxists decided that to launch a counterattack directly at their most stable territory – Belgium. With some 40,000 of the Red Army’s best troops Schlieffen personally instructed his forces as they obliterated the Anarchists in Belgium at the Battle of Arlon. Despite dogged resistance and a partisan local populace the Marxist had secured Brussels by the end of August and final victory by the end of September.
From the Summer until November the war was dominated by two major offenses. From Silesia the Marxists embarked on a bloody push towards the Baltic. Whilst successfully forcing Malatesta from Poland and threatening the Anarchist Baltic ports the offensive ultimately failed in its most important objective – the capture of the ports of Danzig and Konigsberg which supplied the Anarchist armies. However at the same time Kadon launched a spectacularly successful Eastward offensive. Smashing considerably larger and better equipped Marxist armies he brought Munich under siege, threatened Prague and most importantly of all connected his territory up with that of Malatesta. Finally the brave Anarchists in the North fought a bitter defensive action to retain control over the Kiel Canal. Things were going well for the Anarchists, however their armies were starting to lose momentum whilst they simply lacked the supplies and manpower to wage an extended conflict. That is why the arrival of a new force on the Pomeranian coast in early November was such a boon.
The Volunteer Finnish Shock Battalion of Death, or the Finns as they were usually called, was an army of some 10,000 militant Anarchists trained and equipped by the pro-Anarchist Finnish government and under the command of the infamously blood thirsty sadist by the name of Enewald (a figure who never successfully shook off accusations of cannibalism). Yet for all his cruelty he was a simply brilliant military commander.
Three days after landing in Germany he crushed a Marxist Army 4 times the size of his own before plunging into Hannover. The arrival of the Finns totally shook up the Marxist forces. Withdrawing considerable numbers of troops from a push towards Berlin they faced the Finns near the city of Hannover in mid November. After 3 days of fighting the battle ended in stalemate as, despite inflicting heavy casualties, the Finns failed to take the city. With ever larger numbers of Marxists encroaching Enewald marched Eastward to link up with the Anarchists near Berlin. Marching his army into the former Prussian capital Enewald met with a large section of the Anarchist leadership in order to discuss strategy. However after falling out with the Anarchists in a political debate Enewald denounced them and left negotiations. Rather than leave or simply fight the Marxists alone Enewald used the Finns to establish control over Berlin – throwing the Anarchists out.
For two weeks Malatesta was forced to besiege Enewald in the city until the Finns ran out of supplies and threatened their commander with mutiny. After negotiating for a peaceful withdrawal from Berlin Enewald again plunged into combat, this time against Marxist forces to the North of the city of Berlin. Until February the Finns slowly meandered through Marxist territory towards the coast where they were eventually shipped back to Finland.
The incident with the Finns had harmed the Anarchist cause as much as it helped it. The brutality of the Finns towards the civilian population had galvanised support for Lenin and Schlieffen whilst the incident in Berlin had not only distracted Anarchist forces from their Marxist enemies it had also left the Anarchist leadership horrifically paranoid.
Luckily for the Anarchists this paranoia was not allowed to ferment for long as their lines were smashed to the South and West of Berlin by a large-scale Marxist offensive in February which saw the city fall. Malatesta was killed in the defence of the city whilst most of the Anarchist leadership was subsequently executed. Following the fall of Berlin the Anarchist Army went into total collapse in the face of a massive Marxist counter-offensive. By the end of February they had lost the Kiel Canal, and all territory North of Saxony. Indeed by March they were largely focussed in the Alps although they still held the major city of Stuttgart. By now Kadon was the clear and only leader of the movement.
By this stage the legend of Kadon was spreading like wildfire. The often maligned figure was almost single handedly keeping the Anarchist cause alive. Even as each day the overwhelming forces the Marxists pushed forward he travelled from Anarchist position to Anarchist position inspiring the troops to fight on and often getting involved in combat himself. At the same time he wrote avidly of the fate of the revolution if Lenin succeeded. He assured readers that a Leninist victory would mean only one thing – dictatorship and the death of everything the working classes had fought so hard for. Even now he managed to recruit hundreds to fight for the cause claiming “If you tremble with indignation at every injustice then you are a comrade of mine.” He cut himself as a warrior for freedom, not just for the Anarchists.
Yet it was too late. Relentlessly the Marxists pushed forward and town after town fell. On March 26th Stuttgart was captured and Kadon forced into the mountains. With the world collapsing around him Kadon was trapped in a small cave by a squad of Marxist soldiers. A soldier was ordered to execute him on the spot, but hesitated to fire. Kadon replied by bellowing “I know you are here to kill me. Shoot, coward, you are only going to kill a man.” So ended the Civil War of the United Socialist People’s Republic. At least 200,000 people had been killed in a few short months with upward estimates claiming as many as a million died. The Anarchists and Independents had been utterly destroyed and now Lenin and Schlieffen were represented the sole political power left.