Estonian Red Riflemen

You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in Estonian. (July 2023) Click [show] for important translation instructions. Machine translation, like DeepL or Google Translate, is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia. Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article. You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary is Content in this edit is translated from the existing Estonian Wikipedia article at [[:et:Eesti kütiväed]]; see its history for attribution. You may also add the template {{Translated|et|Eesti kütiväed}} to the talk page. For more guidance, see Wikipedia:Translation.

Estonian Riflemen, Estonian Red Riflemen, Estonian Red Army, Estonian Red Guards (Estonian: Eesti Kütiväed, Eesti Punased Kütid, Eestimaa Punaarmee, Eesti Punakaart) were military formations assembled starting 1917 in the Soviet Russia.

Formation

Initially the battalions were formed by volunteers, and by conscription among the Estonian population. A total of about 5,000 men were drafted into the Estonian Riflemen Division. As late as November 1918 the fate of the country was still up for grabs, and the Bolshevik alternative was attractive to all those for whom a social revolution promised a new life.

Russian Civil War and Estonian War of Independence

The Estonian Riflemen actively participated in the

Surrendering to Makhno in 1920

All through February, 1920 the Makhnovshchina was inundated with Red troops, including the 42nd Rifle Division and the Latvian & Estonian Division – in total at least 20,000 soldiers.^[2] After the souring and dissolution of Nestor Makhno's Revolutionary Insurgent Army of Ukraine's alliance with the Bolsheviks, captured Red commanders and commissars were summarily executed. However, Makhno usually preferred to release the disarmed enlisted men that were captured, as "proletarian brothers", with a choice of joining his army or returning home, after all commanding officers were executed. This happened to an Estonian Red Army unit that surrendered to Makhno in 1920.^[3] Viktor Bilash noted that even in the worst time for the revolutionary army, namely at the beginning of 1920, "In the majority of cases rank-and-file Red Army soldiers were set free". Of course Bilash, as a colleague of Makhno's, was likely to idealize the punishment policies of the Batko. However, the facts bear witness that Makhno really did release "in all four directions" captured Red Army soldiers. This is what happened at the beginning of February 1920, when the insurgents disarmed the 10,000-strong Estonian Division in Huliaipole.^[4] To this it must be added that the Revolutionary Insurrectionary Army of Ukraine included a choir of Estonian musicians.^[5] The problem was further compounded by the alienation of the Estonians by Anton Denikin's inflexible Russian chauvinism and their refusal to fight with Nikolai Yudenich.^[6]

See also

• Aftermath of World War I
• Black Guards
• Estonian War of Independence
• Freikorps in the Baltic
• Ober Ost
• Red Guards
• Sich Riflemen
• Soviet westward offensive of 1918–1919
• United Baltic Duchy

References

External links

• Memorial Stone to the Soldiers of 8th Estonian Riflemen Regiment.
• Erkki Bahovski, Täna - 23.02.1918
• Kuura küla