Türkçe TercümeAfter Ahmed Tsalykkaty’s ultimatum of September 10 was delivered to Colonel Haskell, Haydar Bammat on behalf of the Allied Medjlis wrote another ultimatum to Major E. de Nonancourt, the commander of the French Military Mission upon his arrival in Tbilisi. After adding a few notes to the first ultimatum that Tsalykkaty had submitted, Bammat asked the French officer to intervene to end the Volunteer Army occupation immediately. The French military commissioner as one of the most influential figures representing the Allied Powers in the Caucasus, who attached the ultimatum given by the Georgian Foreign Minister Gegechkori and the response notes of the Volunteer Army’s representative in Tbilisi, expressed his opinions on these attachments in the letter he sent to Paris.
Cem Kumuk
Istanbul, 20 September 2024
Tiflis, October 16, 1919.
Commander de NONANCOURT, Acting Chief of the French Military Mission in the Caucasus, to the Minister of War, Army Staff. (2. Office).
Subject: On the subject of the uprising in the North Caucasus and Dagestan
I have the honor to report to you the following facts following the recent uprising in the North Caucasus and Dagestan:
1/ A NOTE FROM THE GEORGIAN GOVERNMENT.
As soon as General Denikin announced that he was sending serious forces to suppress the uprising of the Montagnards and Dagestanians, the Georgian government sent a note to the heads of the allied missions in Tiflis (see Exhibit No.1).
This note or rather this cry of alarm is clearly lacking in sincerity and for this reason deserves enough to be taken into consideration.
The lack of sincerity is characterized by the fact that the Georgian government contributed to a large extent to preparing this insurrection and to supporting it when it broke out, the declaration that it "is following these events with anguish and cannot remain indifferent to them" is perfectly hypocritical.
Denikin's intervention must engender "anarchy". It is in the name of order, as much as in the name of the "principle of the free will of peoples and their right to dispose of their destinies" that the Georgian government protests.
By the repeated use of the word "anarchy" to designate a hypothetical future state of affairs, which arising outside its functions, could spread to their own territory, the authors of the note probably also intended to attenuate the memory of the great disorders that have recently occurred in Georgia, due to Bolshevism and brigandage that marked the first weeks following the departure of the English troops.
What does the Georgian Government really want? What has it sought by its secret maneuvers and who is it pursuing by a request for intervention?
To see a reconstitution of the old state of "the Republic of the Union of the Mountaineers" come to fruition, which would serve as a buffer between Russia and Georgia. If it does not really believe in the realization of this dream, it hopes that neither its northern neighbors will obtain an expansion of their freedoms, at the same time; the question of the independence of Georgia would make progress. A legitimate goal in itself, but sought by unfair means that irritate the former masters. It is indeed at the very least inconvenient to note that the one who helped his own aggressor to plant a dagger in your head does not even wait for the force to be removed from his victim's wound to cry for help for himself.
2/A NOTE FROM THE CHIEF OF THE RUSSIAN MILITARY MISSION IN TIFLIS
To this somewhat surprising appeal from the Georgian government, Colonel DEN, temporarily replacing General BARATOFF as head of the Russian Mission to the Georgian government, responded with a note (see Exhibit No.2) which can be summarized as follows:
1/The Volunteer Army has never had as its goal in its operations in the North Caucasus and Dagestan anything other than to drive out the Bolsheviks and their supporters.
2/A part of Ingushetia, Chechnya, and Dagestan voluntarily submitted to Denikin.
3/This submission, moreover recognized by the Allies, gives General DENIKIN the right to maintain order by using armed force if necessary.
4/ In these conditions the accusation that the government makes against the Russian armies of fomenting anarchy is the opposite of the truth.
5/ Any further intervention by Georgia and Azerbaijan in the question of the Montagnards would have the effect of annihilating General Denikin's efforts to establish good relations.
3/ A NOTE FROM THE FORMER MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF THE REPUBLIC OF THE UNION OF THE NORTHERN MONTAGNARDS.
At about the same time as the Georgian note, (see Exhibit No.3) a note emanating from the Medjlis of the Northern Mountain Peoples was addressed to "Mr. High Commissioner of the Paris Conference in the Caucasus" - This is the title and functions that all governments in the Caucasus recognize for Colonel Haskell, except the Armenian government, the only one informed. - This note dwells on the violence and crimes of the Volunteers against people, lists numerous destructions of villages and auls, protests against the requisitions and the formidable contributions, which ruin the inhabitants, and against the levies of troops especially with the responsibility of equipping them at their own expense. It justifies in short amply the uprising of the peoples of the North Caucasus and Dagestan and requests the intervention of the allied powers.
CONCLUSION
General DENIKINE was certainly too heavy-handed - many unarmed officers agree - concerning the unfortunate mountain populations and that the regime imposed on them, since their submission was more forced than voluntary, is harsher than that of tsarism.
One of the difficulties obviously lies in the separation between the purely nationalized elements and the Bolshevik elements associated with the same spirit of revolt. However, it is possible that a little more moderation on the part of Denikin would still produce results today.
At the same time, he would perhaps calm the fierce hatred, exasperated by the constant anxiety, that the Georgian partisans of Independence have devoted to the leader of the armies of South Russia.
Signed: de NONANCOURT.
P.S. The health of General Baratoff, which had deteriorated for a moment to the point of no longer leaving any hope of recovery, has recently improved considerably, but the General has had to undergo the amputation of a leg. General Baratoff will be definitively replaced very soon by General LASTOTCHKINE.
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Exhibit 1.
Democratic Republic Of Georgia, Minister Of Foreign Affairs
To His Excellency The Head Of The French Military Mission In The Caucasus
October 2, 1919, No.6909
Excellence,
Within the boundaries of Dagestan and the Northern Caucasus, on the territory of the former Republic of the Mountain People's Union, bloody events are unfolding with far-reaching consequences.
The mountain peoples of the regions now occupied by the volunteer army, have risen against the army, and a fierce struggle is currently underway.
There is no doubt that to suppress this uprising, the government of the volunteer army will launch an offensive that will result in bloodshed, the destruction of towns and villages, and the annihilation of border populations.
These events are bound to give rise to anarchy in the region. This will be detrimental not only to the peaceful local population but also to the neighboring republics and in particular for Georgia, where this anarchy will undoubtedly spread.
The Georgian Government is anxiously following the course of events and cannot remain indifferent, as the growing lawlessness in its vicinity is a serious threat to state public order and the general tranquility of the Georgian Republic.
With these considerations in mind, the Government of the Republic of Georgia protests against attempts to resolve issues by force of arms, and urges Your Excellency to put an end to the bloody events and anarchy by your high intervention, and also to take steps to ensure that the issues causing this unrest and anarchy are resolved not by force of arms, but by realizing the principle of the free arbitration of peoples and their right to determine their destinies.
Please accept, Excellency, the assurance of my highest consideration.
Minister Of Foreign Affairs: Gueguetchkori
Director Of The Chancellery: Lordkipanidze
Exhibit 2.
MEMORANDUM, October 1919.
It was only through the newspapers that I was able to read the note sent by the Georgian Foreign Minister to the representatives of the Allied Countries on October 2, concerning current events in the North Caucasus and Dagestan.
On this note, the representative of the Georgian government assures us that the Army will take the most decisive measures against the rebellious Mountaineers. He protests against the resolution of these questions by force of arms and calls on the representatives of the Allied Missions to intervene to put an end to the bloodshed and anarchy to resolve this question through the right of peoples to freely choose their fate.
The Georgian government justifies its intervention in the North Caucasus and Dagestan by fearing the spread of anarchy on the territory of the Georgian Republic.
I would like to inform you of the following regarding this note:
1-The mission of the Volunteer Army, under the command of General Denikin, with the consent and active support of the Allies, was to liberate Russia from the Bolshevik yoke and restore order and tranquillity, after ridding Russian territory of the "soviet power". Precisely to crush Bolshevik anarchy, at the time of the expulsion of the Bolsheviks from the North Caucasus and Dagestan, the Volunteers were forced to enter into an armed struggle with this group of Chechens, Ingush, and other mountain peoples, who were defending the local "Soviets".
2- When, thanks to the heroic efforts of the Volunteers, Bolshevik anarchy had been suppressed and order restored in the North Caucasus, some of the Ingush and Chechens, neighbors of the Bolsheviks, submitted to the Volunteers and recognized the power of General Denikin, pledging not to violate the laws established by him.
3- Dagestan, a Bolshevik base and a hotbed of disorder and anarchy similar to that in the North Caucasus, voluntarily submitted to General Denikin's rule, while the local government preferred to resign its powers after the detachments of volunteers were sent there against the Bolsheviks.
4- The submission of Chechnya and Dagestan to General Denikin was recognized by the Allies and manifested in the establishment of a demarcation line by the Government of Great Britain, an act approved by the Allied Powers. This line was initially drawn 5 kilometers south of Petrovsk, but as it deliberately separated Dagestan into two parts, leaving the Bolsheviks free to escape the pursuit of the Volunteers by crossing to the other side of the demarcation line, the latter had to be definitively established, by General CORY's official note to the Azerbaijan Government, along the SAMUR river, which thus represents the border between Dagestan and Azerbaijan territory.
5- The submission of Chechnya and Dagestan to the power of General Denikin, recognized by the Allies, gives the latter the right and duty to maintain order in the territories under his control and to take all necessary measures, up to and including the use of armed force, against those causing disorder, especially as the continuation of anarchy would only benefit the Bolsheviks.
According to the note's interpretation of Georgia's intervention in the North Caucasus and Dagestan, Georgia fears that lawlessness will spread beyond its borders; the note therefore unfairly accuses the Voluntary Army of supporting lawlessness in Dagestan, as if strengthening the rear of the army were not the concern of every leader, and of General Denikin in particular.
The present defense of the populations of the North Caucasus and Dagestan by Georgia is not only an intervention in the internal affairs of the High Command of the Armies of Southern Russia but also gives new substance to the rumors which have penetrated even to the press concerning the help which Georgia and Azerbaijan are lending to the mountain peoples who have risen, arms in hand, against the power of General Denikin.
6- In any case, any further intervention by Georgia and Azerbaijan in the question of the Mountaineers, even in the form of a protest sent to the Allied Powers, would have the character of an open attack on General Denikin and would annihilate all his efforts to establish, through General Baratov, good relations between the volunteer army and the Georgia of Azerbaijan.
For the Chief Representative: Colonel (Signed) DEN.
State Councillor: (Signed) Al. ABAMOV.
Exhibit 3
THE MEDJLIS OF THE MOUNTAIN PEOPLES OF THE CAUCASUS IN TIFLIS.
TO HIS EXCELLENCE
HIGH COMMISSIONER OF THE PARIS PEACE CONFERENCE IN THE CAUCASUS.
The allied Medjlis of the Caucasian Mountaineers request you, as representative of the Entente, to take into consideration the excessively distressing situation of the people of the Mountaineers Republic, resulting from the invasion by the Volunteer Army of the territory of this Republic.
The fate of the peoples of the Mountaineers Republic is living proof of the lengths to which generals Denikin and Kolchak, and their entourages, went to decide the fate of small nations.
The Allied Medjlis of the mountain peoples declares that these organizations are rebuilding a united and indivisible Russia on the ashes of destroyed villages and the graves of fallen mountain peoples.
The Volontaire army marked the territory of the Mountaineers with blood, leaving nothing but ashes, murder, pillage, gallows, desecrated churches, and violence of all kinds. Under the threat of being shot to death, all the loyal Mountaineers who were working towards success and national regeneration were forced to leave their homeland. They were replaced by reactionary generals from the Tsarist era.
To define the character of the Volunteer Army's activity on the territory of the Mountaineers Republic in all its aspects, and to prove its cruelty, the Allied Mountaineers Medjlis of the Caucasus has begun an investigation. This will be a sufficient indictment of those who have summoned incredible crimes to pave the way for the restoration of a united and indivisible Russia.
All the documents collected will be presented to the Peace Conference and the League of Nations. At present, the Allied Medjlis considers it essential that an international commission of inquiry be formed immediately, to investigate on the spot the actions of the volunteer army on the territory of the mountain peoples. At the same time, the Medjlis protests energetically against the actions of the volunteer army. The latter, having taken possession by force of the territory of the Mountaineers Republic, has decreed a general mobilization of the Mountaineers. Those mobilized who declare that they do not wish to take part in the Russian civil war, claiming that the fall or support of the Russian central power is above all a matter for the Russian people themselves, are mercilessly massacred. Just recently, two of the most flourishing Ingush villages, Ekajevskoye and Surdhotki, were completely razed to the ground, not to mention 30 towns in Kabarda, Ossetia, Chechnya, and Dagestan, which were completely destroyed when the volunteer army entered.
We also protest against the exaggerated requisitions and taxes that turn rich mountain dwellers into paupers, and the poor into beggars.
The character of these Impositions can be judged from the following data:
For example, the inhabitants of Ingushetia were hit with a contribution of 2,000 roubles per house, a head of large cattle (worth 3 to 4 thousand roubles), 4 sheep (average value of each sheep 800 roubles), 25 pouds of corn (at 40 roubles per poud), a military rifle (worth 1,000 1,300 r.), each rifle fitted with 200 cartridges (worth 750 - 1000 r.), a Nagen system revolver (at 1000-1200 roubles a piece), fitted with 50 cartridges (worth 500-1000 г.); every three households together must provide a saddle horse with all its accessories (worth 1200 -1500 r.). Some aouls, such as “NASIR-KORT, were subject to a double contribution. The auls of Greater and Lesser Kabarda, parts of Ossetia, Chechnya, and Dagestan are in the same situation.
In addition, the Kabardians had to pay their princes 11 to 12,000 r. per house. The mountain peoples had to equip regiments for the Volunteer Army at their own expense. Given the poverty of the cavalrymen mobilized, each communal assembly was obliged to provide from 10 to 30,000 r. for their Equipment (the sum depended on the assembly's means). The total contribution inflicted on the mountain peoples reached several billion rubles.
At present, new groups of Mountaineers are being recruited for the Voluntary Army, not to mention the need to reinforce regiments at the front.
The Medjlis assumes that these measures by the Voluntary Army are part of a premeditated plan to exterminate the mountain peoples.
Instantly sensing the plans of the Voluntary Army chiefs, the mountain peoples revolted en masse in Ingushetia, Chechnya, and Dagestan. They would rather die under the Caucasian sky, defending their homes, their freedom, and their independence, than perish in the fire of a civil war in an unknown Russia.
At the moment, we are witnessing a new uprising of the mountain peoples against the Voluntary Army. Chechnya is rising under the command of OUSOUM-HADJI. The Chechens of the Vedeno district are advancing after occupying Vedeno, Chatoy, and Chali. OSOUM-HADJI's troops are made up of Chechens, Dagestanians, Kabardians, Balkars, Ingush, etc...
A new revolt broke out in Dagestan, led by the republic's Sheikh-UI Islam - ALi-HADJI-AKUSHINSKY.
The rebels, having driven out the administration forcibly imposed by the Volunteer Army, and disarmed the garrisons of the fortresses occupied by the Volunteer Army (Dechlagar, Madjelis, Akhty, Gounib etc.), continue to drive the Volunteers back towards Petrovsk, Temir-Khan-Shura and Derbent.
The mountain peoples fought for 50 years against Russian autocracy, defending their freedom and independence under the command of their Imam SHAMYL. They were only conquered by force of arms in 1864. They will never submit to the Voluntary Army, but they will always defend their territory against the oppressors, with arms in hand. They will never resign themselves to the forced mobilization decreed by the Voluntary Army, because even in the darkest days of Tsarism, the Caucasus highlanders were not subject to recruitment. Even the absolute monarchy, taking into consideration the history of the mountain people and their love of freedom, and also fearing armed revolt, hesitated to decree compulsory military service for the mountain people.
In protesting against the actions of the Volunteer Army, the allied Medjlis categorically declares that until the Mountaineers' territory has been evacuated by the Volunteer Army, and until an independent Mountaineers Republic has been declared, peace will never reign over this territory, which will become the arena of the Mountaineers' continuous struggles for their national freedom.
The Medjlis draws Your Excellency's attention, as representative of the Entente Powers, to the need to take the following measures immediately:
1- The evacuation of the territory of the Mountaineers Republic by the Voluntary Army and the temporary establishment of a demarcation line, at least on the middle and lower course of the Térek and its tributary the Malka, until the definitive solution to the question of the borders of the Mountaineers Republic, a question to be decided at the Paris Peace Conference.
2- The forthcoming organization of an international commission to investigate the Voluntary Army's activities on Mountaineers' territory.
3- The immediate cessation of forced recruitment of Mountaineers for the volunteer army.
4- The immediate cessation of requisitions and taxation among the Mountaineers.
The Allied Medjlis hopes that Your Excellency will immediately take all measures within his power and that he will communicate the following protest by radio to the Peace Conference.