Rear Admiral M. I. Smirnov (1880–1940) as the Chronicler of Admiral A. V. Kolchak

The article is devoted to the work of Rear Admiral M. I. Smirnov, Naval Minister of the Russian Government Admiral A. V. Kolchak, classmate and colleague of A. V. Kolchak in the Baltic, the Black Sea and White Siberia. The author examines the main theses of M. I. Smirnov, expressed by him on the pages of a biographical essay dedicated to Admiral A. V. Kolchak and published in 1930 in Paris. The conclusion is made about the emphasized unwillingness of M. I. Smirnov to cast a shadow on the ranks of the Kolchak Headquarters when analyzing the causes of the defeat of the White Army. The point of view of a number of researchers, proceeding from the historical predestination of the defeat of the White Army of Admiral A. V. Kolchak, is disavowed. The operational errors of the Headquarters and headquarters of the Western Army at the end of April — May 1919, which became the main military reason for the defeat, are indicated. The concept of M. I. Smirnov concerning the socio- political causes of the defeat of White Siberia is considered, In particular, the problem of the betrayal of the Czechoslovaks and the betrayal of a number of front-line units and formations during the “Run to the Volga” and retreat in the spring and summer of 1919.