«Почему бы не начать совместно с белыми русскими борьбу с большевизмом?»: Воспоминания генерала Р. фон дер Гольца как источник по истории Гражданской
Memoirs of General R. von der Goltz as a Source on History of Civil War in North-West Russia

Summary/Abstract: The article analyses the memoirs of general Rüdiger von der Goltz “My Mission inf Finland and Baltic States”. Despite the fact that the memoirs were published in 1920, they were translated and published in Russian only now. German Baltic Division led by general von der Goltz took part in Finnish Civil War on the side of “whites”. Later in 1919 general von der Goltz was sent to Latvia as commander of German troops in Baltic States, where he also participated in local civil war on the side of anti-bolshevik forces. The book of von der Goltz consists of three chapters: his life before World War I, mission to Finland and mission to Latvia. The authors notes the differences between von der Goltz’s and K. G. Mannerheim’s points of view on Finnish Civil War and on the events that followed. It is also shown that von der Goltz is rather preconceived in his memoirs on the events of October 1919, when the troops of Bermondt-Avalov were advancing towards Riga. On the other hand von der Goltz make no secret of the fact that the Russian “Western Volunteer Army” was organized to protect German purposes in this region in case if the German troops will be forced to quit Latvia. Despite the bias of von der Goltz’s memoirs, its translation and publication in Russia is a major event for all who is interested in Russian Revolution and Civil war.

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