Pier Zhanen French general, representative of the Entente under A.V. Kolchak. Country: France

Biography of Pierre Janin

Pierre Janin was a French general and representative of the Entente in Russia during the reign of Admiral Kolchak. He was born into a military family and achieved his career success through his abilities. Janin graduated from the General Staff Academy Saint-Cyr in 1892 and taught at the Nikolaev Academy of the General Staff from September 1909 to November 1911. He participated in World War I, starting as a regiment commander and quickly rising to a high-ranking position in Joffre's staff. From May 1916 to October 1917, he served as the head of the French military mission to the Russian army under Nicholas II in Mogilev. Janin became a divisional general in 1916 and played a role in the formation of the Czechoslovak Corps from citizens of Austria-Hungary in Russia. In 1917, he was recalled to France. In early November 1918, he arrived in Vladivostok with Stefanik, claiming that Soviet Russia would be surrounded by the Allies within 15 days and would surrender. From late November 1918, Janin served as the Commander-in-Chief of the Allied forces in Western Siberia, including the Czechoslovak Corps, and head of the French military mission to Kolchak. He was proposed by the Allies as the overall commander of all anti-Bolshevik forces in the fall of 1918, but Kolchak disputed this, resulting in a personal antipathy between them. Janin showed particular concern for the formations of Czechoslovaks, Poles, Romanians, Serbs, Baltics, and Ukrainians. According to White counterintelligence, Janin was already involved in anti-White Guard activities in early 1919. He represented France and the Allied forces at a meeting of Russian White Guard and foreign representatives on the functioning of railways in Siberia. In early 1919, General Janin advocated for separate negotiations with the Bolsheviks. During the socialist uprising from December 22, 1919, to January 5, 1920, in Irkutsk, he was stationed at the city's railway station. He issued an order by telegram: 1. Delay the Supreme Ruler's train. 2. Transfer the gold reserve to Czechoslovak guards. 3. Consider the railway a neutral zone and do not allow military operations on it. He threatened to use force against Skripetrov's troops, sent by Semyonov to assist the White garrison in Irkutsk. Janin was accused of supporting Bolshevism by Semyonov on December 27, 1919. With his consent, Sirov and his subordinates treacherously attacked Skripetrov's troops after expressing their loyalty and disarmed them, capturing them. On January 2, 1920, he sent a telegram to Kolchak through the Czech headquarters in Nizhneudinsk, assuring him that the Supreme Ruler would be safely escorted by the Allies. He is one of the main culprits in the transfer of Kolchak to the "Politcenter." On January 13, 1920, at the Chermokhovo station, the Czechoslovak guards protecting Kolchak were joined by the combatants of the Socialist-Revolutionaries with Janin's permission. According to some reports, he negotiated with Kolchak to secure his safe return home since the partisans threatened to blow up the Circum-Baikal tunnels and cut off Janin and the Czechoslovaks from Primorye if the Supreme Ruler was not handed over to them. He represented the Allies at the negotiations of Kolchak's government on the transfer of power to the "Politcenter." In January 1920, he was challenged to a duel by Semyonov for handing over Kolchak but refused, saying, "I did everything I could." Upon his return to France, he was criticized for not opposing the Czechs and Slovaks who handed over Kolchak. In November, he arrived in Vladivostok as the representative of the joint command of the French General Janin. In an interview with the press, he said, "Within the next fifteen days, the entire Soviet Russia will be surrounded from all sides and forced to surrender." General Stefanek, the Czechoslovak Minister of War, arrived with General Janin. He told the press, "Our task is to return the Czechoslovak army home. But we would act against the traditions of our ancestors if we coordinated our actions with the honor of a soldier and the conscience of a compatriot." Stefanek told the Russian generals that he would die in Siberia but would make the Czechs help in the fight against the Bolsheviks. It seemed that the categorical statements of the allied representatives gave reason to hope for sincere support from the allies in the fight against the Bolsheviks.
Upon arrival in Omsk, General Janin presented Admiral Kolchak with an instruction received from his government, signed by Clemenceau and Lloyd George. This instruction stated that Janin was to assume command of all Russian and allied forces operating in Eastern Russia and Siberia with the aim of forming a new anti-German Eastern front. The instruction concluded by stating that the allied governments anticipated that the newly formed governments in Russia would not willingly submit to Janin's demands, and if so, they would receive no assistance from the allies. The instruction presented by General Janin clearly did not correspond to the existing situation. Russian forces were the only ones operating on the anti-Bolshevik front, and the Czechoslovaks ceased fighting and began withdrawing to the rear after the armistice in Europe. There already existed a unified Russian government in Siberia led by Admiral Kolchak. Subordinating this government to a foreign general would have discredited it, as it was the bearer of the Russian State idea. Therefore, Admiral Kolchak informed General Janin that he would rather refuse foreign assistance than submit to his instruction. Janin agreed that his instruction did not correspond to the situation and proposed revising it and telegraphing it to Paris for approval. As a result of further negotiations and correspondence with Paris, the following government message was published in Omsk: "General Janin, the representative of the highest inter-ally command, has arrived and assumes his duties as the Commander-in-Chief of the forces of the allied states acting together with Russia in Eastern Russia and Western Siberia. In order to achieve coordinated actions on the front, the highest Russian command led by Supreme Commander Admiral Kolchak will coordinate general operational directives with General Janin, for which purpose the relevant instructions have been given to the Chief of Staff. At the same time, General Knox, a collaborator of General Janin on rear and supply issues provided by the allied governments for the needs of the Russian front, begins to perform his duties, as a result of which the Military Minister is instructed to coordinate his work with the tasks assigned to General Knox." As mentioned earlier, the Czechoslovak troops were already being withdrawn from the front at this time. General Stefanek made every effort to keep them engaged in combat, but his efforts were in vain. The demoralization of the Czechoslovak troops, with the participation of Russian socialist-revolutionaries who convinced them of the undemocratic nature of the anti-Bolshevik government, was in full swing. After some time, General Stefanek informed Admiral Kolchak that there was no possibility of forcing the Czechs to continue fighting and that it would be best to withdraw them from Siberia. However, the allies did not have any ships available, as they were busy transporting demobilized allied troops. Therefore, it was decided to deploy Czechoslovak troops along the railway from Novo-Nikolaevsk to Irkutsk to guard it. Since there were no other allied troops on the anti-Bolshevik front, Janin's authority as the Commander-in-Chief of the allied contingents effectively amounted to the protection of this section of the railway. Without limiting himself to commanding the Czechoslovak troops, General Janin began to form troops of other nationalities in the rear, such as Polish, Serbian, Ukrainian, Romanian, etc. These formations only diverted supplies from the Russian army and cluttered the railway with military cargo intended for units not fighting the Bolsheviks on the front lines.