"Left drift" of socialists in Siberia before and after the defeat of Kolchak (end of 1919 - early 1920)

The article aims to fill the existing gaps within the national historiography related to the condition and behavior of socialist parties of Russia during one of the crucial stages of the civil war in the East of the country: during the defeat of Kolchak's regime and the establishment of the bodies of the so-called dictatorship of the proletariat. This task is solved on both empirical and conceptual levels. In the first case, new factual materials found mainly in newspaper periodicals in central and local archives were introduced into scientific discourse. These materials make it possible to give a general idea of events, motives and causes which determined firstly an active participation of the majority of factions and groups of socialists in Siberia during the overthrow of Kolchak, and secondly the transition of their extreme left elements and groups to communist positions. On a conceptual level two main conclusions are made in the article. Firstly, it is stated that between late November 1919 and early January 1920, all principal towns of Siberian provinces except Omsk were reconquered by rebels prior to the arrival of the Red Army. Such a fast and almost bloodless overthrow of Kolchak's power in most large administrative centers of Siberia is explained by an active participation of socialists in the struggle against the White Guard regime, by a spontaneous formation of the «United Revolutionary Front» throughout various separate local territories. Secondly, it is argued that the affiliation of some socialists with the RCP(b), and especially self-liquidation of the whole Menshevik and SRs groups of different directions and their transition to the communist party played a tremendous significance. Among them, there were many qualified specialists, experienced executives and simply educated people. In Siberia where the organization of the RCP(b) was inconsiderable in number and experienced a critical shortage of staff, they mitigated the difficult situation by their participation in creating and functioning the restored bodies of the Soviet power.