Documents on the case of the all-Union military officers Organization “Spring” (1930–1931) as a source on the history of Russian officer corps of the post-revolutionary period
| 17 June 2025
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Ganin A.V., Moscow, Russian Federation
Documents on the case of the all-Union military officers Organization “Spring” (1930–1931) as a source on the history of Russian officer corps of the post-revolutionary period
This article has been prepared with financial support from of the Russian State Science Fund (science project no. 14-31-01258а2 “ Russian Officer Corps at the time of collapse: 1914-1922.” It is based on a report of the author to the scientific workshop “Investigatory records of the Joint State Political Directorate (OGPU) - People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (NKVD) - Ministry for State Security (MGB) ” that took place in the Russian State Archive of Socio-Political History (RGASPI) on September 29, 2016.
Absract
In 1930–1931 in the USSR there was instigated a case of all-Union military officer counter-revolutionary organization “Vesna (Spring)” against the former Red army officers. Despite a number of publications, this case remains virtually unstudied. The materials are stored in the Departmental Archive of the Security Service of Ukraine. There were many striking personalities among those arrested in the case of “Spring.” Transcripts of the interviews contain valuable data on national military and political history. Many high-ranking military specialist testified in the case of “Spring”, some of them instrumental in the creation of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (RKKA); the evidence cover all spheres of the RKKA development from evolution of the high command and history of the military education establishments to evolution of military topography. Some of the persons named in the case having served in the White or national armies, their evidence throws light on the role of officers in the anti-Bolshevistic camp. The evidence is of utmost importance for biographers. The article assesses the nature of investigatory records as an important source on the history of Russian officer corps in the post-revolutionary period. The materials of the “Spring” case speak of a crackdown due to Soviet leadership holding course for building-up of industrial power and eliminating all manifestations of dissent.
Keywords
Sources, “Spring” case, political repressions, Workers’ and Peasants’ Red Army.
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About the authors
Ganin Andrey Vladislavovich, PhD in History, leading researcher at the Institute of Slavic studies of the Russian Academy of Science, Moscow, Russian Federation, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it