The Tambov Rebellion of 1919–1921 was one the largest peasant rebellions against the Bolsheviks during the Russian Civil War. It was led by a former eser, Alexander Antonov, and therefore in Soviet history it was known as the Antonovshchina (Анто́новщина). It was sparked by the harsh policy of war communism.

The uprising took place in the territories of the modern Tambov Oblast and a part of Voronezh Oblast.

As a distinctive feature of this rebellion among the many of these times, it was led by a political organization, the Union of Toiling Peasants (Soyuz Trudovykh Krestyan), headed by Antonov.

The seriousness of the uprising called for the creation of the "Plenipotentiary Commission of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee of the Bolshevik party for liquidation of banditism in the Tambov Gubernia". The rebellion was ruthlessly crushed by Red Army units headed by Mikhail Tukhachevsky. The political guidance of the anti-revolt operations was effected by Vladimir Antonov-Ovseenko . The famous Soviet Marshal Georgy Zhukov got his first decoration while fighting rebels here.

The uprising was so great that more than 30,000 solders were sent in. The army used artillery and armoured trains to fight peasant rebels. On some occasions, chemical weapons were used.

Several concentration camps were set up, and the families of insurgents were sent there as hostages.

The uprising was gradually quelled in 1921. Antonov was killed in 1922 in an attempt to arrest him.

External links

• Programme of Union of Toiling Peasants
• (in Russian) Antonovshchina: a wealth of historical documents