Semenov Revolt

a counterrevolutionary uprising led by the esaul (cossack captain) G. M. Semenov against Soviet power in November and December 1917. The Semenov Revolt began on Nov. 18 (Dec. 1), 1917, in the railroad station of Bere-zovka, near Verkhneudinsk, marking the beginning of the Civil War in Transbaikalia. At a congress of the rural population of Transbaikalia held in Verkhneudinsk, Semenov called for a “relentless struggle against Bolshevism” and attempted to seize power in the city. However, the congress, despite its mixed political and social composition, did not support Semenov and called on the committee of public security and the regional soviet to crush the revolt. Pressed by revolutionary military units, Semenov fled to Manchuria. In August 1918, in connection with the revolt of the Czechoslovak Corps, Semenov managed to establish himself temporarily in Transbaikalia, organizing a bloody regime known as the Semenovshchina.