Bendery is a city with a strong character, a will to freedom and an innate capability to resist. It was like this from the beginning. Bendery archetype is a stronghold, which arose here long before Turkish governing and the first mentioning in the document of the Moldavian principality. The spirit of the fortress was manifested at all times, and especially during periods of historical storms. The civilization storm that arose as a result of the collapse of the Russian Empire in 1917 wasn`t exception.
This May marks the 100th anniversary of the Bendery armed rebellion, perpetuated in the local urban culture and history of the Fatherland. However, it was preceded by an event no less dramatic in which the Bendery character was manifested: on January 29, 1918, Bendery actually became the first Russian city to resist foreign intervention.
Political Prologue
After the fall of the monarchy in the spring of 1917, Russia began to slip into political chaos. Power lay under the feet, and no one dared to pick it up, as Russian intellectuals recalled it being already in exile. Finally, in November 1917, the Bolsheviks picked it up. Picking it up turned out to be easier than keeping it: the country was on the verge of collapse. Not only opponents but also allies of the Entente turned against it. Soon the Civil War will begin, but even before that such “friends” decided to seize the moment.
Back then Romanian Foreign Minister Konstantin Arion said that Russia should not be afraid of - it would not be revived again. He replaced a more forward-looking Alexander Averesku on this post. The following cautious but objective judgment belonged to Alexander Averesku:
“Russia is sick, no doubt, it is very sick, but Russia has not disappeared, and it will recover. We, as a small power, should not use our neighbor`s state of paralysis”.
But Romania was dealing in its own way. There are no friends, only interests. Respect for an ally, even a former one? No, never heard. Who cares who was defending the Romanian front for two whole years if Bessarabia is defenseless! What? This territory has been the province of the Russian Empire for more than a century, and almost 50 per cent of the population is not Moldovans? Never mind, because the empire didn`t exist anymore.
Intervention with Far-reaching Plans
Later, the Romanian Minister D. Ionesku would honestly say:
“The whole world knows that the troops were sent to Bessarabia in order to complete, when it would be possible, the final act of joining Bessarabia. This is the truth”.
This is despite the fact that December 2, 1917 hastily established county authority Sfatul Tarii (Council of the country) declared Bessarabia as "Moldovan People's Republic, constituting the Unified Federal Russian Democratic Republic as an equal member".
However, on December 8, representatives of the MPR appealed to the Romanian leadership with a request for military assistance: there are chaos and anarchy in the country, help! This request, however, was used by Bucharest as a justification for the annexation. They came to the rescue, but took everything.
The total strength of the Romanian contingent sent to Bessarabia was about 30 thousand bayonets and sabers. Already on January 26, 1918, the first detachments entered Chisinau. On the same day, the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR announced the severance of diplomatic relations with Romania. But there was no leverage: the decree on the Red Army establishment will appear only in two days, and the remnants of the Russian troops of the Romanian front disintegrated into political factions. Separate regiments that went to Tiraspol for regrouping, had defected to the Soviets.
The executive committee of the Soviets of the Romanian front, the Black Sea Fleet and the Odessa Region (Rumcherod), where in December 1917 the power passed to the Bolsheviks, tried to organize the resistance. Rumcherod declared war on Romania and began to form a task force in Tiraspol called the “Special Army against the Romanian Oligarchy and Counterrevolution”.
In the central and northern parts of Bessarabia, the Romanian invaders met only disparate resistance. Until they reached Bendery.
Bendery Resistance
On January 22, 1918, on the initiative of the Bolshevik organization of the Bendery Railway District, the power was transferred to the Council of soldiers`, working and peasant deputies of the headquarters of the revolutionary committee. It also organized the Defense Staff headed by professional revolutionary Grigory Borisov (Stariy).
But the Krasnogvardeyskiy regiments formed in Bendery were left alone with the advancing Romanian forces: Rumcherod only gathered forces in Tiraspol, and the remnant regiments loyal to the Soviets who had departed from Chisinau were sent there.
So when, on January 29, the Romanian artillery opened fire on Bendery, the townspeople could only count on themselves.
Member of the town defense A. Griso recalled:
"January 16 (29), at 12 p.m. the Romanians began to bombard the town from the outskirts of Borisovka, their intelligence was already near the fortress".
A few days of shootout took place in different parts of town, and on February 1 the bombarding began again, which lasted until 12 a.m. The next morning, the Romanians managed to take Bendery.
“At first, no one was bothered, and an order was issued for all the railway workers to appear with white armbands to get passes to the workshops. We gathered near the hotel where the headquarters was staying and saw Russian officers in Romanian uniform there. At that moment, shooting started from the Tiraspol side, the shell hit the hotel’s steps near the door. Things got hectic, people began to run up, there were gun shreds used against them, and then massacre began” - Griso recalled.
A few days later, small but capable Soviet troops launched a counterattack from Tiraspol. On February 6, they managed to seize the fortress and enter the city, where street fighting began. Romanians managed to take hold of some houses and sit around in the church, from where they were firing machine guns.
In his report the commander of the Romanian troops, General Broshtyanu, described the situation as follows:
"The occupation of Tigina (Bendery) was performed ... with great difficulty and large losses due to extreme resistance and hostile opposition ... The strong attack of the Bolsheviks, accompanied by street fighting, forced us to leave the city and retreat to Borisovka".
Having regrouped and reinforced, the Romanians resumed the attack and on February 7 they seized Bendery one more time.
The Voice of the Revolution newspaper, published in Odessa, reported:
“Romanians opened rapid artillery fire on our reserves and the area adjacent to Bendery. The shooting was carried out exclusively by field artillery ... Not having support, our troops were forced to retreat for Bendery".
"Romanian Soldiers Committed a Lot of Robberies"
According to eyewitnesses, after the second capture of the city, the Romanian military administration put up a sheer terror. Thus, 5 thousand of Bendery citizens, among whom were many women and children, were brought to a wasteland near the station and being kept on their knees for about four hours by the Romanians. From time to time they gave the command, according to which people had to put their hand to the visor.
As Griso told:
“Outside the city there was a huge circle, which was surrounded by machine guns. Everyone had to pass with their hands raised, and then Romanians searched the weapons, but from their pockets they took everything they found... On the way there, the corpses of the dead were already there ... From the other end of the city, gunshots were heard. There was also a large crowd of people, and they told us that people were being shot”.
According to various estimates, from 150 to 250 people were killed in Bendery that day. Even the occupational administration reported on the criminal behavior of Romanian soldiers. So, on February 11, the Bendery Siguranza (Secret Police Department in Romania) wrote to the headquarters that "... during the second capture of Bendery, the Romanian soldiers committed a lot of robberies".
So, actually, Romania became the first country to begin the intervention in Russia in 1918. But suddenly there were problems in Bucharest. The World War I wasn`t over yet, and Germany together with Austria-Hungary put forward a severe ultimatum to Romania. In such circumstances, it decided to come to an agreement with the RSFSR, pledging to "clean Bessarabia up within two months". But circumstances changed again: Romania agreed to all the conditions of Germany and Austria-Hungary, and when the latter seized Ukraine and Pridnestrovie, Bucharest decided not to fulfill the agreement with the RSFSR. Bendery remained under the occupation, against which a revolt would rise in the city in a year.
Information was prepared based on public sources in two-volume History of PMR, and V. Perstnev`s book “Bendery Defense of 1918: View through a Century from now”.
Alexander Koretsky
