Underground Activities of the Volga Organization of General Alekseev in Kazan in 1918

Abstract

The article is devoted to the study of the activities of the largest officer underground in Kazan – the Volga Organization of General Alekseev, whose role in the capture of the city by Komuch in August 1918 for a long time remained in the shadow of large-scale military operations. Based on the analysis of the memoirs of an active participant of the organization N.P. Vygovskiy, published in 1928 in the emigrant newspaper Russian Word and involved in the study for the first time, as well as letters from General Yu.D. Romanovskiy to General M.V. Alekseev, dated August 1918, the structure, coalition ties, and practical activities of the underground are reconstructed. The organization, which united officers, Zemstvos, professors, and representatives of trade and industrial circles, maintained ties with the Volunteer Army, foreign missions, and sympathizing military units. Despite the fact that the activities of the Kazan underground organization were discovered by the Chekists in the early summer of 1918 and part of the leadership was arrested, the underground remained active. Its influence on the outcome of the assault on Kazan on August 6–7 proved to be one of the key factors. The activities of the organization were aimed not at preparing a mass uprising, but at systemic sabotage (intentionally incorrect artillery aiming, disruption of orders), disinformation, and demoralization of the Bolshevik rear. This circumstance, combined with an open uprising on the day of the assault, led to a catastrophic disorganization of the defense, contributed to panic, and ultimately predetermined the success of the attackers with minimal losses on their part. Thus, the fall of Kazan is presented as a result of the synergy of external military pressure and a deep internal crisis, the key element of which was the purposeful work of a cohesive officer underground acting as an effective "fifth column".

For citation: Zalyaev S.R. Underground Activities of the Volga Organization of General Alekseev in Kazan in 1918. From History and Culture of Peoples of the Middle Volga Region. 2026, vol. 16, no. 1, pp. 83–93. https://doi.org/10.22378/2410-0765.2026-16-1.83-93 (In Russian)