The daily routine of the militia of the Russian “white” Northern region (1918 - 1920)

The article highlights the daily routine activities of the militia on the territory of the Russian “white” Northern Region during anti-Bolshevik rule in the north of Russia. The article is based on previously obscure archival documents of the central and local militia in the “white” Northern Region. The archival documents helped to reconstruct, as a whole, the structure of militia establishments, the number and composition of the militia staff, their financing, the provision with uniforms, arms, transport and accommodation. The article pays special attention to the place which the militia occupied in the bureaucracy of the “white” Northern Region and interrelations of militia institutions with other military and civil institutions. The article features typical instances of everyday routine of the militia in 1918-1919: investigation of thefts, search for missing people, convoying of those arrested, and patrol and protection capacity. It is concluded that the efficiency of the militia in the “white” Northern Region was largely reduced by a number of economic, social and political factors. The government of the Northern Region was regularly short of finances and material resources to provide for the militia in the required amount. The commandment of the Entente troops that occupied the Northern Region helped but little the Russian government of the Northern Region to resolve the militia's material deficiencies. The militia was often used for military purposes. For instance, it took part in the extortion of material resources from the population to satisfy the army's needs. The militia fought against desertion by conducting operations to capture the citizens of the Arkhangelsk Province who wanted to escape from military service in the White Army. As a result, the population felt hostile toward the militia, normally refusing to cooperate with it.