Lichenz
The Baron's Cloak
Willard Sunderland
This is the second book I’ve read on the Baron Roman Ungern von Sternberg. While The Bloody White Baron was focused more on telling the story of the Baron in a compelling narrative fashion, The Baron’s Cloak was written as more of a microhistory, using Baron Ungern as a tool to examine historical and cultural currents which were active in Russia during his life. The former book gave me a better understanding of the more military aspects of Ungern’s campaign, with some thrilling accounts of particular battles, but the latter gave me a better understanding of the conceptual background both of Ungern’s ideas and of the Russian Civil War as a whole. (The Baron’s Cloak also had much better sourcing than did The Bloody White Baron.) I definitely feel like I benefited from reading both, and would recommend anyone interested in the Baron do the same (neither book is very long).
Something that Sunderland emphasizes throughout this book is the nature of the Russian Empire as a patchwork state, one made up of a number of different peoples stretched out across the vast expanse of the empire’s territory. Ungern himself is a perfect example of this phenomenon, given that he was a Baltic German, both an ethnic minority and hailing from one of the fringe, border territories of the empire. For much of its existence the Russian Empire had thrived in its patchwork nature, the central authority of the Tsar delegated in various regions to local power structures: in Estland, the Baltic Germans were the local representatives of the Tsar’s authority, while on the opposite end of the empire, the Eastern fringe, Cossacks and Buryats were given a great deal of latitude, so long as they remained loyal to the Tsar.
But the late 19th and early 20th centuries were a time when national sentiments were becoming more and more popular, and Russia was no exception to this. Additionally, modernization and technological growth was allowing for greater connection within Russia: the Trans-Siberian railroad reduced travel times across the empire and allowed millions of peasants to settle what had previously been a faraway land. Now, with greater and more immediately connectivity between parts of the empire, there came also a feeling among many Russians that the empire should be made more homogeneous, that non-Slavic peoples and regions must be thoroughly Russified.
It’s worth noting that even the process of Russification took on its own form in the different parts of Russia: in Estland there was a great deal of resentment towards Baltic German nobles from Estonian natives, and so there was something of a harsh tone to efforts of homogenization in that region. Comparatively, in the East, relations with Buryats (a steppe people) were generally good, and so efforts to change their culture were presented in a more paternalistic light.
It’s worth noting that even the process of Russification took on its own form in the different parts of Russia: in Estland there was a great deal of resentment towards Baltic German nobles from Estonian natives, and so there was something of a harsh tone to efforts of homogenization in that region. Comparatively, in the East, relations with Buryats (a steppe people) were generally good, and so efforts to change their culture were presented in a more paternalistic light.
Both of these processes of intense modernization were interrupted by revolution: Bolshevik revolution in Russia and Republican revolution in China. This created a wildly unstable situation in the borderlands between China, Russia, and Mongolia, allowing warlords of various stripes to gain power. Ungern was one of these warlords, ostensibly seeking to establish a new state but practically engaging surprisingly little in anything resembling politics or diplomacy.
Both of these processes of intense modernization were interrupted by revolution: Bolshevik revolution in Russia and Republican revolution in China. This created a wildly unstable situation in the borderlands between China, Russia, and Mongolia, allowing warlords of various stripes to gain power. Ungern was one of these warlords, ostensibly seeking to establish a new state but practically engaging surprisingly little in anything resembling politics or diplomacy.