Government of the Russian Socialist Federative Republic in Exile

The **Government of the Russian Socialist Federative Republic in Exiles** (**Russian:** *Правительство Российской Социалистической Федеративной Республики в изгнании*) is the reorgsanised structure after the defeat in the Russian Civil War of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and the reconsolidated and reconstituted government in exile of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee and the Council of People's Commissars during its exile in France. Originally made up entirely by the RSDP (B) in exiles, overtime the organ was expanded to all socialist parties in exiles and by the reconciliation of Mensheviks and Bolsheviks by the Joint Programme of 1929 in face of its waning power and relevancy over Russian matters nor interests to the French Government, as well as many Bolsheviks were absorbed by works for the International rather than Russian affairs.

President of the Russian Socialist Federative Republic
 Nikolai Bukharin
 Joseph Stalin | President of the Russian Socialist Federative Republic
 Grigori Sokolnikov

## 6th Army Corps (Bolshevik Legion)

### Affiliation

Russian SFS in Exile
French Social Republic

### Size

40,000 (peak)
6,000 (1947)

### Notable Events

Second Great War

The **Bolshevik Legion** (**French**: *Légion bolchevique*, **Russian**: *Большевистский легион*) was the designated name collectively for a number of various formations and organisations that replaced the standing Red Army of Workers and Peasants. The current incarnation of the Bolshevik Legion was created in 1939, as first the **first** **battalion of internationalist,** with the efforts of Joseph Stalin from 1941, as President of the Government of the Russian RSFS in exiles to promote the cause of Internationalist volunteers and regain the relevancy of the Bolsheviks cause, By 1941, Red emigres volunteers of numerous ethnicities and many other non-Bolshevik exiles have regrouped into the 6th Army Corps of the French Revolutionary Army, numbering nearly 40,000 troops (16,000 Red emigres, 2,000 Ukrainian red emigres, 6000 other russian emigres and the rest by French battalions.)

Read also: Free Europe Movement

### Composition of notable units

6th Army Corps (Army Group Centre)

* 72nd Division (1st Bolsheviks) "Vladimir Lénine"
	+ 197th (Bolsheviks) Infantry Regiment
		- 1st Internationalist Battalion
			* Henk Sneevliet (Dutch-Indonesian-Belgian) Rifle Company
	+ 199th (Bolsheviks) Infantry Regiment
	+ 252nd (Georgian) Infantry Regiment
* 222nd Division (2nd Bolsheviks) "Léon Trotski"
	+ Polish Motorised Brigade
	+ 322nd (Bolsheviks) Infantry Regiment
* 600th Division (3rd Bolsheviks) "Vladimir Antonov-Ovseïenko"
	+ 352nd Infantry Regiment (Ukrainian Legion)

## Between the Legion and the Government

Political exile is familiar terms with many of the old party leaders and many have endured it for years, but not a majority of emigres do not share that experience, of the 360,000 Red emigres settled in France, 130,000 in Britain and 50,000 in Italy, those who fought for the Soviet powers in the brief years it was the Government of the day found themselves unable to live in their own country no more for fears of political repression and violence of Russia was forced to embark on the great ships of the withdrawing French navy to flee West.

In the first decades, the highly organised organs of the Soviet Republic allowed it to survive the emigration mostly intact, thus maintaining a semblance of real power still relevant, but over time as the Russian Republic consolidate and the emigres intergrate into French society, by 1930s, the Government have been reduced to a symbolic position, which changed dramatically in 1939. With the tireless efforts of President Stalin on the halls of the French National BGT and propaganda works to reignite the old hope of home among the emigres, in the context of the French Revolutionary Army after the Gamelin Affair, it was welcoming an addition of experienced and educated military officers that the Emigres could provide, although of a lower priority than the Free Germans project, this fact made it easier for the organisation of the Internationalist Battalion that became the core of the later corps-sized Bolshevik Legion and thus the 6th (Bolsheviks) maintained an almost equal number to the 15th (Free Germans) despite the Bureau extreme efforts for the Free German Army to grow into a considerable force that is capable of fighting equal ground with the Reich, it mostly was a support force to the FRA that became massively overgrowth of 11th hours recruits. Thus the Bolshevik Legion is the most successful out of all Free Europe Movement forces.

But then it became the Government's own problem, 3 decades have passed since the emigration, the Bolshevik underground have mostly withered away, the Government has ceremonial authority for the Russian living in France, that is waning ever years, most of its influential leaders have already been absorbed by the Workers International in other capacity, and that was many years ago, the old leaders are already too old to consider a leading role, Stalin have retired from the Government after the war, Bukharin troubles himself with the Jacobin Party more than the RSDLP. The military commanders of the Legion however, are real Russian national leaders, conceivable, with real detachment from the Workers International and the Jacobin Party, that brought again hope and inspiration as war heros to the decades of homesickness, thus as Grigori Sokolnikov became the 4th leader of the RSFR, one can not say that he has influence over the emigres as much as Major General Kliment Voroshilov and Colonel Zhukov.

## Commemoration

* Museum of the European Liberation War, Paris.
	+ Bolshevik War Achieves
* International Brotherhood Memorial, Berlin
* "Glory to the First Internationalist" Statue, Crossing of the Rhine Memorial. Strasbourg
* "Departure of the Internationalist" Statue, outside the RSFR emigre office in London

## See Also

Red Stars of Russia - a series of short stories of the gallant few, among a land that have forgotten them.