Editing Tambov Rebellion (section)

==Suppression==
By January 1921, peasant revolts had spread to [[Samara]], [[Saratov]], [[Tsaritsyn]], [[Astrakhan]] and [[Siberia]].{{sfn|Werth|1999|p=111}} But with the end of the [[Polish–Soviet War]] and the [[Evacuation of the Crimea|defeat of General Wrangel]], the Red Army could divert its regular troops into the area.{{sfn|Werth|1999|p=111}} In May 1921, [[Mikhail Tukhachevsky]] was ordered by Lenin as military [[commander-in-chief]] to suppress the uprising in Tambov. Assigned to him were [[tanks]], heavy [[artillery]] and 100,000 soldiers,{{sfn|Pipes|2011|pp=378–387}} mostly special units of the Cheka, with additional Red Army units.{{sfn|Werth|1999|p=126}} As many members as possible of the communist youth organization [[Komsomol]] were assigned to him because they were considered politically loyal. The Red Army used [[armoured train]]s and engaged in the [[summary execution]] of "civilians". The rebels responded with assassination attempts on Tukhachevsky and Ovseyenko, and the kidnapping and shooting of family members of members of the Party and Red Army.{{sfn|Pipes|2011|pp=378–387}}

On 6 May, Tukhachevsky announced his pacification campaign. That month a large army of between 50,000{{Sfnm|1a1=Bookchin|1y=2004|1p=329|2a1=Khvostov|2y=1997|2p=40|3a1=Mayer|3y=2002|3p=392}} and 100,000 Red soldiers{{Sfnm|1a1=Figes|1y=1997|1p=768|2a1=Waller|2y=2012|2p=195|3a1=Werth|3y=1998|3pp=132-138}} reached the southern part of the oblast.{{Sfn|Landis|2008|p=2}} The plan was to "flood the rebellion area with troops".{{Sfn|Mayer|2002|p=393}} They included regular forces, Chinese and Hungarian internationalists and detachments of the [[Cheka]], the {{ill|Units for Special Purposes|ru|Части особого назначения}} and the {{ill|Militarised Guard|ru|Войска ВОХР}},{{Sfn|Khvostov|1997|p=40}} although the decisive contingents were the numerous cadets and horsemen who arrived.{{Sfn|Chamberlin|1965|p=439}} They were supported by 70 heavy artillery pieces, hundreds of machine guns, 3 armored units, a plane,{{Sfn|Mayer|2002|p=392}} armored trains{{Sfn|Chamberlin|1965|p=439}} and chemical weapons left over from [[World War I]] stockpiles.{{Sfnm|1a1=Figes|1y=1997|1p=768|2a1=Mayer|2y=2002|2p=395}}

On 31 May, seven armored vehicles commanded by General [[Ivan Fedko]] surprised 3,000 rebels in the village of Dve Sestritsy and dispersed them with heavy casualties.{{sfn|Landis|2008|p=223}} Two infantry brigades and one veteran cavalry brigade under General [[Grigori Kotovski]] were assigned to the Tambov sector.{{Sfn|Landis|2008|p=211}} During the first two weeks of May, 15,000 Red Army officers concentrated in Tambov to prepare for the campaign.{{Sfn|Landis|2008|p=215}} On the dawn of 1 June, Fedko with three vehicles armed with machine guns, Kotovski's horsemen and the brigade of Siberian cavalry of M. D. Kovalev launched a surprise attack against Antonov and the 3,000 partisans with whom he occupied {{ill|Elan, Tambov Oblast{{!}}Elan|ru|Елань (Тамбовская область)}}. Although the rebels managed to repulse the armored vehicles with their rifles, they fled before Kovalyov's cavalry.{{Sfn|Landis|2008|p=223}} On 6 June, the armored vehicles commanded by Fedko achieved another victory near Chernyshovo.{{Sfn|Landis|2008|p=224}} Between 1 and 9 June, three Bolshevik forces led by Uborevich launched a coordinated attack with seven armored vehicles against the rebel stronghold, near the town of {{ill|Kamenka, Tambov Oblast{{!}}Kamenka|ru|Каменка (Тамбовская область)}}, and faced 2,000 rebels led by Antonov and Boguslavski in six battles, during which 800 partisans died. The region between Tambov and Kirsanov was pacified.{{Sfn|Landis|2008|pp=227, 348}} These three forces intended to converge on [[Rzhaksa]]: Dmitrenko's cavalry brigade (2,000 men from the Sampur in the Tambov uyezd), Kotovski's cavalry brigade (1,000 soldiers from the Lomovis station in the Kirsanov uyezd) and the 14th cavalry brigade (1,000 cavalry up the Vorona River from Karai-Pushkino in Kirsanov's uyezd).{{Sfn|Landis|2008|p=348}} Two weeks later rebel commander Aleksandr Boguslavski was killed in combat.{{Sfn|Landis|2008|p=228}} The same fate befell Tokmakov, Karas and Selianski.{{Sfn|Landis|2008|p=274}}

On 12 June 1921, Tukhachevsky received permission from [[Vladimir Antonov-Ovseenko]] to begin the use of [[chemical weapon]]s against the remaining rebels. They ordered their troops to clear the forests with poison gas, stipulating that it "must be carefully calculated, so that the layer of gas penetrates the forests and kills everyone hiding there."{{sfnm|1a1=Mayer|1y=2002|1p=395|2a1=Werth|2y=1999|2p=117}} Publications in local Communist newspapers openly glorified liquidations of "bandits" with the poison gas.{{sfnm|1a1=Figes|1y=1997|1p=768|2a1=Pipes|2y=2011|2pp=387–401}} Antonov's army was encircled and destroyed,{{sfn|Werth|1999|p=134}} leaving the rebellion practically defeated by the end of June.{{Sfn|Khvostov|1997|p=40}} By the month of September, the rebels had been reduced to a thousand due to the massive arrival of red troops.{{Sfn|Werth|1998|p=139}} By the end of that year, there were no more than 4,000 rebels left on the warpath.{{Sfn|Landis|2008|p=323}} With almost all their leaders dead, the last parties took refuge in swamps and forests under constant persecution.{{Sfn|Chamberlin|1965|p=439}}

It took until the middle of 1922 for the province to be pacified completely.{{sfn|Werth|1999|p=134}} The Antonov brothers and several of their last followers were killed in combat against a Red detachment on 24 June 1922{{Sfn|Chamberlin|1965|p=439}} in the village of {{ill|Nizhni Shibriai|ru|Нижний Шибряй}}, where they hid their few personal possessions. The Cheka wanted to arrest them{{Sfnm|1a1=Figes|1y=1997|1p=769|2a1=Pipes|2y=1993|2pp=387-411}} and set fire to the house where they took refuge. When they tried to flee, they were shot down.{{Sfn|Chamberlin|1965|p=439}} By then, their movement was reduced to only a few groups.{{Sfn|Landis|2008|p=1}}