The Mirage of the German Bridgehead on the Middle Volga: What Was Planned and What Was Achieved In 1918

In the spring of 1918, due to the terms of the Brest Peace, the German Empire received unique opportunities for further comprehensive expansion deep into Eurasia, which sharply increased its interest in the Middle Volga region. The presence of a large number of Volga Germans who were ready to rely on the patronage of the Kaiser’s authorities should be considered as a peculiarity of the region. The escalation of the Civil War, especially after the uprising of the Czechoslovak Corps, was associated with attempts by the Entente to restore the Eastern Front in any region of the former Russian Empire. In such a situation, control over Saratov and Samara, as well as over a number of provincial towns, acquired not only an infrastructural and reputational dimension, but also opened up the prospect of long-term German-Soviet cooperation on a solid regional basis. It is necessary to consider in this context at least the formation of German autonomy on the Volga, as well as a number of episodes of armed confrontation in the Trans-Volga region with the participation of subjects of the Central Powers. The necessary channels of infl uence of the German Empire on the situation in the region and the motivation to participate in the battle for the Volga region were more than suffi cient. Only the lack of time and the unfavourable dynamics of the 1918 campaign on other fronts of the First World War for the Central Powers prevented Germany from consolidating its existing levers of infl uence and regional pro-German forces.