Nikolaev incident

In September 1918, Nikolaevsk was occupied by Japanese troops during the intervention of the Entente in the Far East . The document on inviting the Japanese military unit was signed by officials and the bourgeoisie of the city under the pretext of the need to protect the region’s gold mining center. Then this document and its signatures served as the basis for the execution of the residents who signed this paper. At the beginning of 1920, in the city, except for the Russian population (about 6,000 people) and white detachments (about 300 people), a Japanese garrison of 350 people from the 14th Infantry Division of the Japanese Imperial Army was placed under the command of Major Ishikawa, and There were about 450 people of the Japanese civilian population.

The city also housed the Korean and Chinese colonies , there was a Chinese consulate . After an unsuccessful attempt to pass along the Amur to Sungari at the end of 1919, a squad of Chinese gunboats , headed by Commodore Chen Shiying, also winterized in Nikolaevsk.

In January 1920, the city was besieged by a guerrilla unit numbering 3,000 under the command of J. Tryapitsyn and T. Naumov (chief of staff).

Yakov Ivanovich Tryapitsyn (1897–1920), a Murom peasant, an ensign of the RIA , a front-line soldier , the St. George Cavalier , appeared in Siberia at the end of 1918, took part in the partisan movement and created his own detachment of 35 people, headed by November 10, 1919 from with. Vyatskoe made on Nikolaevsk. As it advanced, the squad expanded to 5 regiments ^[1] .

The fighting for the city began on January 21, 1920.

After mastering the partisan army of Ya. I. Tryapitsyn, the Chnyrrakh fortress, located on the outskirts of the city, and the artillery shelling that had begun there, Major Ishikawa, commander of the Japanese garrison, recalled his neutrality, according to the declaration on the non-participation of the Japanese army in the Russian civil war, Lieutenant-General Lieutenant-General Siramiram, according to the declaration on the non-participation of the Japanese army in the Russian civil war, Lieutenant-General Lira. On February 28, the Japanese concluded a truce with the partisans, according to which the partisans could enter the city. The guerrillas promised to guarantee the inviolability of the Japanese population and its property. After that, the squad Tryapitsyna entered the city, decorated for the occasion with red flags ^{[2] [3]} .

Immediately upon arrival in the city, the partisans, in addition to arresting a small detachment of whites, began to arrest the richest and most influential people of the city according to a pre-compiled list of people who signed the letter asking for the protection of the city by the Japanese detachment. All of them were imprisoned in a city prison ^[2] .

The main part of the connection of Ya. I. Tryapitsyna, which consisted of local residents, after the capture of Nikolayevsk, spread over its villages.

The capture of the partisans of Nikolaevsk-on-Amur is described in the story of Vaska-Gilyak, a direct participant in the events, the writer Reuben Fraerman ^[4] .

Tryapitsyn feared that after the Cupid opened up from the ice, reinforcements would arrive in time for the Japanese. Therefore, he decided to intern the Japanese garrison. On March 11, the head of the partisan headquarters, T. I. Naumov, conveyed an ultimatum to the Japanese from the partisan headquarters, demanding partial disarmament ^[2] .

In coordination with the higher command, the Japanese garrison decided to undertake an unexpected sortie. The Japanese, on the night of March 11 to March 12 ^{[2] [5]} , suddenly opened fire on Tryapitsyn’s headquarters, firing rockets at it as well. A large part of Nikolaevsk was set on fire. In the attack, except for the Japanese garrison, the entire combat-capable part of the men of the Japanese population of Nikolaevsk participated.

The chief of staff, T. I. Naumov-Medved, was killed, the secretary of the staff, Pokrovsky-Chernykh, shot himself, Tryapitsyna, wounded in both legs, was carried out by comrades from a burning headquarters building and sat down in a nearby stone building, where they organized a defense. At the first moment he also decided that all was lost, and asked his comrades to shoot him.

During the first day of fighting, the initiative was in the hands of the Japanese garrison, but then the command of the battle took over the commander of the mining and mining regiment, Budrin, who came from the village of Kirby along with his unit.

Ultimately, the numerical superiority of the partisans affected and in the battles that lasted 4 days, the Japanese garrison was completely destroyed. Up to 500 partisans were killed - as a result of surprise and loss of control in the battle on the first day. Major Ishikawa, with the remnants of the garrison, took refuge in a Shimado store, which the partisans poured with kerosene and set it on fire, after which they shot the Japanese jumping out of the fire; Ishikawa, seriously wounded, was personally killed by Budrin. The Japanese quarter was also crushed and burned (primarily by criminal and semi-criminal elements and the so-called “Sakhals” - former Sakhalin convicts), and 80 women who lived there were killed. ^[3] .

During the battles (on the night of March 13) all the prisoners were massacred (killed by cold weapons) in the prison, including even the guilty guerrillas imprisoned for lack of a guardhouse. Among those killed were, in particular, Archpriest Serapion (Black), the former chairman of the district council Kaptsan and the former governor of Sakhalin von Bunge. ^{[3] [3]} .

By the evening of March 14, the main forces of the Japanese were defeated, and on March 15 at 12 o'clock their last group capitulated. Most of the Japanese died in battle. Virtually the entire Japanese colony (834 people) was exterminated by the partisans, and their movable and immovable property was confiscated and partially looted. ^{[6] [3]} . During the fighting, most of Nikolayevsk was burned by the Japanese, who used incendiary bullets and shells.

117 captured soldiers, to whom 11 women were attached, were imprisoned. 12 Japanese women married to the Chinese were saved as families hid them.

Of the foreign nationals, the English manager of one of the largest fisheries in the city, John Fried, was arrested, who was then shot on charges of counter-revolutionary activities.

After the defeat of the Japanese garrison, the orders of military communism were introduced in the city: cooperation was nationalized, money was canceled, equalization supply was introduced, etc. The confiscated property of officials of the former tsarist and Kolchak administration, the bourgeoisie and the intelligentsia, the Japanese colony was used for this purpose.
Robberies and violence of semi-criminal elements, which were not limited to the local police and the Cheka, have caused outrage part of the guerrillas. Partisans included local partisans, former soldiers of the Chnyrrakh fortress garrison, as well as communists.
The disgruntled men conspired, led by Budrin, the regimental commander who gained popularity among partisans and the people of Nikolayevsk-on-Amur by the talented leadership of the battles from March 13 to 15, 1920.
On April 22, 1920, according to the order No. 66 of the Commander-in-Chief of the People's Revolutionary Army of the Far Eastern Republic G. Kh. Eyhe , Ya. I. Tryapitsyn was appointed Commander of the Okhotsk Front . According to the same order, all the partisan detachments subordinated to him were transformed into units of the Revolutionary People’s Army of the FER. ^[7]
On April 23, 1920, Tryapitsyn, having managed to get a majority of votes at the garrison meeting, immediately arrested his opponents led by Budrin. ^{[6] [3]} .

The news of the defeat of the military garrison and the massacre of the Japanese colony in Nikolaevsk-on-Amur shocked Japan and was used by the government to justify massive intervention in Russia with the aim of rehabilitation in the eyes of public opinion.

On the night of April 4-5, 1920, the Japanese attacked the Soviet authorities and the military garrisons of the Far Eastern Republic in Khabarovsk, Vladivostok, Spassk and other cities of the Russian Far East and captured them.

The Okhotsk Front , under the command of Ya. I. Tryapitsyna, was isolated from the rest of the armed forces of the Far Eastern Republic.

In May, the Japanese command from captured Khabarovsk sent troops to Nikolaevsk-on-Amur.

On May 22, 1920, in view of the inevitability of approaching the enemy, Tryapitsyn began negotiations with Chinese consul Zhang Wenhuang and Commodore Chen Shiying, about joint actions with the Chinese against the Japanese. The Chinese, despite pressure from the command of the Okhotsk front, refused to take direct part in the battles against the Japanese.

Being isolated from the Far Eastern Republic and not having received instructions from the central headquarters of the FER army, on April 10, 1920, the leadership of the FDD Okhotsk Front decided to evacuate the population to the village of Kirby and destroy the city of Nikolaevsk-on-Amur and the fortress Chnyrrah to prevent the creation of a military base Japanese army and navy. “For foreign countries, it will be very significant if we burn the city and evacuate the population,” said Tryapitsyn ^[8] .

Shortly before that, under the patronage of the Chinese consul Zhang Wenhuang, the Chinese gunners managed to evacuate foreigners - mainly Chinese with their families, as well as some Englishmen, Poles, etc., to the village of Mago, 30 km from Nikolaevsk. This evacuation of the consul was proposed by Tryapitsyn, although initially it was only about Chinese citizens. The Consul promised to think about this proposal and eventually agreed. It turned out that, together with foreigners, a significant part of the Chinese "partisans", former Hunghusians , fled with the money to the "international settlement". It is noteworthy that the Chinese authorities calmly accepted them and even took them under protection, despite all the atrocities that the Hunhuzes were doing in Nikolaevsk.

Mass evacuation began on May 23 ^[5] and ended on May 30, 1920 ^[6] . The main part of the population of Nikolaevsk and partisans was transported by steamboat to the area of ​​the village of Kerby ^[6] .

After the evacuation, before the remaining military units of the Okhotsk front left the city, the captured Japanese and arrested citizens who had signed the petition to the Japanese emperor were shot. A total of 129 Japanese prisoners and a number of residents and partisans were detained in Nikolaevsk at that moment. Among the shot was a group of communists arrested for plotting against Tryapitsyn (later this will be especially blamed on him at the trial). Among them was Budrin, who was killed along with his 16-year-old son ^[3] . On the night of May 31 to June 1, 1920, Nikolaevsk-on-Amur was set on fire. Partially the buildings and all the weapons of the Chnyrrakh fortress were blown up.

Following the retreating army, along the bank of the Amur River, Jacob Tryapitsyn left with his headquarters.
By the resolution of the regional executive committee Ya. I. Tryapitsyn, along with the entire headquarters, he was arrested by a group of Nikolayev residents headed by I. T. Andreev (member of the executive committee and head of the Sakhalin regional militia) at the taiga village of Kerby and committed to an improvised court - “court 103” . He was sentenced to the highest degree by simple voting. Nina Lebedeva-Kiyashko (Chief of Staff of the Okhotsk Front) ^[3] was shot along with him.

The headquarters of Ya. I. Tryapitsyna, after taking possession of Nikolaevsk-on-Amur, redeployed the Fomin-Vostokov ski detachment to Sakhalin , which had previously played a key role in the environment of Nikolaevsk. The power of the Soviets was also proclaimed on Sakhalin ^[9] .

The Japanese government used the Nicholas incident to justify the further occupation of Sakhalin , justifying it with the need to protect the Japanese living on Sakhalin from repeating the events that occurred in Nikolaevsk. Sakhalin was occupied by the Japanese on April 22, 1920. The issue of withdrawing Japanese troops from northern Sakhalin was resolved as a result of negotiations that began in 1924 and ended with the signing of the Soviet-Japanese convention in 1925 .

Most of Nikolaevsk-on-Amur was burned. According to the testimony of George Dyer’s Kolchan mines ^[10] , given to him by the investigative commission in Vladivostok on July 6, 1920, it is indicated that no more than 100 out of about 4,000 houses in the city survived. After receiving the order, the partisans destroyed all public buildings and almost all residential buildings out of 1,165 residential buildings, only 35 survived. The city actually had to be rebuilt from scratch. According to the writer P. I. Gladkikh, the famous Soviet military leader V. Blucher V. regretted the death of Tryapitsyn ^[9] :

Tryapitsyn was a fighter for Soviet power, just like the Siberian “grandfather” Nestor Kalandarishvili ... Yakov Tryapitsyn was killed in vain. Did not understand thoroughly in this difficult matter and broke wood.

DVR, RSFSR, USSR, Russia (RF)

In the 1920s – 50s of the 20th century, according to the point of view of the USSR, as the successor to the FER, to the conflict in Nikolaevsk-on-Amur — the essence of the incident was the unauthorized execution of Japanese prisoners of war in late May 1920, contrary to the Geneva Convention ^[11] , and the events in Nikolaevsk-on-Amur from March 11 to March 15, 1920 were called the cause of the incident, all blame was laid on Ya. I. Tryapitsyna, he was declared an anarchist for his arbitrariness, convicted and executed ^[12] :

"Nikolaev incident" 1920 - between the FER and Japan; was used by the Japanese military in order to justify, at least in hindsight, the occupation of Sakhalin. In January 1920, a partisan detachment under the command of the anarchist Tryapitsyn was besieged by the Japanese city of Nikolaevsk-on-Amur. The Japanese garrison surrendered and concluded a contract with the partisans, according to which the city was handed over to the partisans, and special premises were assigned to the Japanese troops. After two weeks of peaceful cohabitation, the Japanese unexpectedly attacked the partisans. The battle lasted several days and ended in victory for the partisans who captured about 100 Japanese. When it became known in May that auxiliary Japanese troops were sent from Khabarovsk to Nikolayevsk, Tryapitsyn ordered a retreat and shot the Japanese and White Guards who remained in the city, and set the city on fire. For this arbitrariness, Tryapitsyn was convicted and executed by partisans. This case, called “N. and. "and was used by the Japanese as an excuse for their occupation of Fr. Sakhalin - ostensibly in “compensation” for “N. and.". In fact, about. Sakhalin was occupied by the Japanese on 22.IV.1920, that is, a few weeks before “N. and.".

The issue of withdrawing Japanese troops from northern Sakhalin was resolved as a result of negotiations that began in 1924 and ended with the signing of the Soviet-Japanese convention of 1925 ... "

Russia is still sticking to this version of the Nikolaev incident, as the successor of the USSR.

International Commission

To investigate the circumstances of this international conflict, an international commission was created. It consisted of six people from the Russian population, as many from Chinese, three people from Korean society, and several other foreigners who turned out to be at that time in Nikolaevsk-on-Amur.

The conclusion of the commission was unequivocal - the Japanese troops were the first to attack the partisans ^[13] .

Japan ^{[13] [14]}

The Japanese government blamed the partisans for the "Nicholas incident" ^[15] . Throughout the Japanese Empire mourning was declared, both houses of parliament devoted a special session to the “Nikolaev tragedy”.

In August 1921, at the Dayren Conference , the delegation of the FER demanded that the Japanese withdraw their troops from the Far East. The Japanese, in response, put forward 17 demands to the government of the FER. One of them was:

“When solving the Nikolaev issue, the FER government undertakes to transfer the northern part of Sakhalin Island to the Japanese government for a period of 80 years as compensation for damages incurred by Japanese nationals during the Nikolaev events.”

At the Washington conference , which took place soon, the Japanese delegate Baron Shide-Khara justified the occupation of the Sakhalin region:

“History knows few incidents like the events in Nikolaevsk in 1920, where more than 700 Japanese, including women and children, were officially recognized as consul, his children and servants were brutally tortured and killed. No nation worthy of respect could remain calm in the face of such provocation.

The Japanese government could not ignore the indignation caused by this fact in Japan. Under these conditions, Japan found no other way out than to occupy the Russian province of Sakhalin. ”

Then, in response, the FER delegation offered to discuss the so-called “Nikolaev events” in essence and identify the real culprit of the “Nikolaev incident”. The Japanese delegation refused, under the pretext that neither the FER nor the RSFSR, as a state, were recognized by Japan ^[16] .

To the comment of the FER delegation that this “non-recognition” by the Japanese government did not prevent, until now, negotiations with representatives of these governments and to recognize their diplomatic immunity ^[16] .

Subsequently, on the side of the delegations of the FER and the RSFSR, the United States opposed such an approach of the Japanese side, which forced Japan to return North Sakhalin in the near future. It happened in 1925.

• Gongotha ​​Agreement
• Incident with "Dyke Maru"

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