Goals and potential of study the rebel corps commanders of the Civil War

The necessity of further study of the people’s leaders during the Civil War is argued and the main tasks and directions of research work are proposed. The need to study the family circle of partisan and rebel leaders in the context of the demographic situation in Russia is assessed. Considerations are given on the importance of a comprehensive study of their biographies in order to understand the motives and possibilities of participation in the Civil War. Attention is drawn to the frequent situation of the leadership of brothers in the rebel movement. Estimates of the military abilities of the people’s leaders and their orientation are proposed. Perspective archives for the development of the topic are indicated. The importance of the rebel ego-documents is noted, of which there are relatively few, but research work with them is promising. The importance of ethnic and gender aspects of popular leadership is emphasized. The phenomenon of psychological kinship of people of the same environment, separated by military-political confrontation, is emphasized. Attention is paid to the party and political affiliation of the military leaders of the Civil War and their perception by their subordinates, population, descendants. The question is raised about how politically sophisticated were the military leaders of the civil strife. Thus, a scheme for studying the phenomenon of popular military and political leadership in the Civil War is proposed, based on available sources and a wide range of biographical data.