A. V. Kolchak (1874-1920) at the origins of the white struggle: from the naval commander to the supreme ruler

The article is devoted to the most important stage of the military and political biography of the Supreme Ruler of Russia, Admiral A.V. Kolchak, associated with his participation in the birth of the White Struggle and its first period in the spring of 1918. The article briefly characterizes the activities of A.V. Kolchak as commander of the Black Sea Fleet in 1917, examines his stay in Petrograd in the summer of 1917, the leadership of the naval mission in Great Britain and the North American United States in the fall of 1917, describes the admiral’s reaction to the Bolshevik coup and Lenin’s "Decree on Peace", examines his attempt to join to the British army to continue the struggle against the Austro-Germans and Turks on the Mesopotamian front in early 1918. The main attention of the author of the article is occupied by the period from the accession of A.V. Kolchak to the post of commander of the Russian Troops in the CER strip in the spring of 1918 to the Omsk coup and the first steps as Supreme Ruler. The author proves the inconsistency of the conspiracy theory of the "anti-monarchical conspiracy" of generals led by M.V. Alekseev, in which A.V. Kolchak allegedly took part, substantiates the thesis about A.V. Kolchak’s participation in the birth of the White Struggle in the summer of 1917 in Petrograd, which was expressed in the admiral’s support of patriotic organizations of the Kornilov trend, identifies the main motives of the irreconcilable struggle of A.V. Kolchak. V. Kolchak with Bolshevism, and also formulates the main reasons for the unsuccessful military-political outcome of this struggle.