“There Is Still a Person at the Headquarters of the Northern Front… Serving the Interests of the Allies”: The Case of the Captured British Intelligence Officer and the “Commissar Wars” at the Headquarters of the Northern Front of the RSFSR in Late 1918–Early 1919

The article reconstructs the case of the capture of British intelligence officer A.Z. Sergienko in the North of Russia in December 1918 on a broad documentary basis. The prisoner’s testimony was used at the end of 1918 to settle personal scores in the confrontation between members of the Revolutionary Military Council (RMC) and military specialists at the headquarters of the Soviet Northern Front, which, along with other reasons, led to personnel changes and subsequently to the abolition of the front, the headquarters of which was transformed into the headquarters of the Western Front of the RSFSR. The case materials demonstrate the difficulties of the formation of the Red Army in 1918–early 1919 and the role of the personal factor in this process. The study is based on the documents of the Cheka, the RMC of the Northern Front and the revolutionary military tribunal of the republic.