Alexander Antonov (politician)

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Aleksandr Antonov
Russian SFSR
Cause of deathKilled in action
NationalityRussian
Occupation(s)Revolutionary, politician, rebel leader
Known forTambov Rebellion
Political partySocialist Revolutionary Party
Left Socialist-Revolutionaries (from 1918)[1]

Aleksandr Stepanovich Antonov (26 July 1889

Bolshevik
regime.

Early life

Antonov was born in

milliner and Stepan, a former non-commissioned officer in the Russian army, worked as a tinker, although his business was unsuccessful.[2] Antonov had two elder sisters, Valentina and Anna, and a younger brother Dimitri Antonov [ru]. As a teenager he worked for a local grain trader.[2] His mother died when he was about 16 years old. He had moved out of home by the time Stepan and Dimitri moved to Inzhavino in 1907 or 1908.[3]

Picture of a young Antonov, 1890s

Entry into politics

It is unknown exactly when Antonov became involved in radical politics.[2] At some point he joined the Socialist Revolutionary Party. He first appears on police records as a known revolutionary in 1908, when he travelled to Tambov to establish connections between his group and the Tambov Socialist Revolutionaries.[3] Antonov became an "expropriator", someone who carried out robberies to support the revolutionary cause (called "expropriations" by revolutionaries). Antonov is associated with the robbery of a railway station in Inzhavino, where a note was left stating the exact amount taken "by the party of anarchists-individualists", signed by "a member of the party".[4] He was also involved in the robbery of a bank in Kaninskii, where the amount taken was entered into the accounts book as being confiscated by "the Volga Union of Independent Socialist-Revolutionaries".[4]

On 20 February 1909, Antonov was arrested in Saratov, during an investigation into a plot to assassinate the commander-in-chief of the Kazan region, General Sadetskii. He does not appear to have been involved in this plot, but was imprisoned for his involvement in robberies.[5] He was given 20 years of katorga, spending the first part of his sentence in the Schlisselburg fortress and the rest in Vladimirsky Central[citation needed].

February Revolution and the Kirsanov Republic

In February 1917, Antonov was released from prison by the amnesty for political prisoners proclaimed by the

Tsarist Police. He had useful connections in the political circumstances, for instance his defence lawyer from his trial in 1910, V. P. Isheev, was now Chair of the Tambov Municipal Duma.[6]

On May 13, the Duma representatives of Kirsanov declared the town to be an independent republic. A leading figure in this was the businessman A. K. Trunin, who declared himself "Procurer-General".

bolshevik" or "blackhundred".[7] Antonov was chosen to lead a contingent of Militia to arrest the leaders of this "republic". Antonov's men encountered a large crowd outside the municipal Duma building in Kirsanov, their attempt to arrest Trunin was resisted and eventually led to a shootout. The "republicans" surrendered, but a crowd assailed Antonov's group and freed them, simultaneously arresting Antonov. The local army garrison intervened to arrest Trunin and restore order, however the incident had led to 8 deaths.[7]

In October, officials of the Kirsanov uezd requested that Antonov be made head of the uezd Militia.[7] Around this time Antonov married his girlfriend, Sofiia Vasil'evna Orlova-Bogoliubskaia. Sofiia's brother Aleksandr also had connections to Kirsanov, and similarly to Antonov had been involved in "expropriations" before the revolution.[8] Antonov left his new wife in Tambov to take up his new appointment in Kirsanov.[8]

October Revolution, Tambov Rebellion and death

When the Bolsheviks

Socialist-Revolutionaries and Mensheviks.[1] There was a gradual transfer of power from the Duma to the Soviet. The Bolshevik presence in Kirsanov began to grow as Bolshevik-supporting soldiers returned from World War I, and the Bolshevik regime began to impose its control on the countryside.[8] A branch of the Cheka was founded in Kirsanov in April 1918. Non-Bolshevik officials like Antonov were placed under pressure to align themselves with the regime or leave their posts. It is known that Antonov eventually joined the Left Socialist-Revolutionaries, who were initially aligned with the Bolshevik regime, however he had little involvement in their party implying this was probably a pragmatic decision to keep his position.[9]

In Kirsanov he organised and became one of the leaders of the

Kazan Mother of God
on the fifth day after he perished.

References

  1. ^ a b Landis 2008, p. 49.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Landis 2008, p. 42.
  3. ^ a b Landis 2008, p. 43.
  4. ^ a b Landis 2008, p. 44.
  5. ^ Landis 2008, p. 45.
  6. ^ a b c d Landis 2008, p. 46.
  7. ^ a b c Landis 2008, p. 47.
  8. ^ a b c Landis 2008, p. 48.
  9. ^ Landis 2008, p. 50.

Bibliography

  • Landis, Eric C. (2008). Bandits and Partisans: The Antonov Movement in the Russian Civil War. Pitt Series in Russian and East European Studies. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press. p. 381. .