Fact le
I
n the early parts of the Russian
Civil War, South Russia was an
intense battlefield between the
Bolshevik Red Army, and the
White Army of those loyal to
the monarchy.
For much of 1919, the White Army
in the south, under the leadership of
General Anton Denikin continued
to expand territory, uniting various
factions against the Bolsheviks. However,
the tide turned, when the Red army
decisively defeated Denikin in October
and November of 1919. Over the
next few months, the weakened white
forces began to retreat south, eventually
consolidating in Crimea.
Early in 1920, Denikin was forced to
resign and General Pyotr Nikolayevich
Wrangel (known to the Bolsheviks as the
‘Black Baron’) was appointed as the new
commander on 4 April. By this stage,
however, Bolshevist’s superiority was
overwhelming and further defeats lead
Wrangel to organise a mass evacuation of
military and civil personal from Russian
soil. Beginning on 15 November,
about 125 ships, most from the UK,
USA and France, evacuated Wrangel’s
soldiers, their families and others
fearing persecution from the advancing
Red Army. More than 100,000
refugees were taken from Novorossijsk
and Sevastopol. The evacuation was
complete on 26 November.
The ships split up and unloadedFor dead country stamp collectors, there are some ‘countries’ which have a fascinating and somewhat
complicated history, writes Michael Adkins. This month we cover the stamps of Wrangel’s Army, a defeated
army from the Russian Revolution, which ran a de facto government while living in refugee camps in Turkeyrefugees in Constantinople, Gallipoli
or the island of Lemnos, which was
used as a staging place for relocating
refuges to other places such as Serbia
and Tunis. The largest concentration was
in Gallipoli, which is where the bulk
of Wrangel’s soldiers were taken. For a
time, ‘Wrangel’s Army’ was recognised
by France as a legitimate government of
Russia, and they maintained their own
government, currency and postal service.
The international community grew
concerned about having such a large
concentration of experienced soldiers
in Turkey, especially as they still had
aspirations of retaking Russia from the
Communists. On 19 April, 1921, France
withdrew their recognition of Wrangel’s
Army as a separate state, and the allies
began the process of relocating the
refugees, settling them in Europe and the
Balkans. The last group of Russians left
Gallipoli in May, 1923.
Wrangel lived in Constantinople
until 1922 when he relocated to Tunis,
then Yugoslavia and finally to Belgium.
In 1928 he died suddenly, probably
poisoned by a Soviet agent.
As soon as refugee camps were
established, Wrangel organised a postal
system for military and civilian refugees.
The refugee post took stocks of stamps
brought from Russia and surcharged
them with new values for use within
the camps. The stamps were considered
legal, primarily because of their official
recognition by the French. Additionally,
the postal system in the collapsing
Ottoman Empire was so unreliable that
most foreign governments in the region
issued their own stamps as well.Dead Countries
The first stamps were surcharged with
new values and overprinted ‘Почта //
РУССКОЙ // АРМiИ’ (Post of the
Russian Army) in blue, red or black. The
stamps were surcharged in 1920-21 by E.
M. Essayan in Constantinople on stamps
from Imperial Russia, Russian PO’s in
the Levant, Ukraine and Denikin’s Army
in South Russia. More than 100 different
types exist, primarily because Wrangel’s
stock only had small quantities of each of
the different stamps.
A second surcharge was issued, which
is much more controversial. In April,
1921, a second series of stamps were
surcharged and overprinted ‘РУССКАЯ
// ПОЧТА’ (Russian Post) in blue,
red, black or brown. The stamps
were primarily printed for sale to the
philatelic market for speculators and to
aid the refugees, however, apparently
they were available for about three weeks
in the refugee camps making them
legitimate postage stamps.
All stamps of Wrangel’s Refugee post
were withdrawn for use on 1 June, 1921
as postal authority was revoked, and the
refugees began to be relocated.
Overall, the Wrangel Refugee Post
surcharges were applied to about 190
different varieties of stamps. They have
been extensively reprinted both in
Constantinople and Paris. With such
an interesting history, collecting these
stamps can be a fun project. None of
the stamps are vastly expensive, and
with time and diligence, a complete
collection can be accumulated. To add
variety, many issues have invert errors.
Prices in most of the major catalogues
are for reprints.Wrangel’s army
Wrangel’s Army
Government: Refugee Camp
Key Dates:
3 April, 1920 – General Wrangel assumes command of
White forces in South Russia
14 August, 1920 – France offi cially recognises Wrangel’s
Army in South Russia
15-26 November, 1920 – Wrangel’s Army evacuates Crimea
19 April, 1921– France withdraws recognition of
Wrangel’s army as an independent state.
6 May, 1923 – the Last Refugees leave Gallipoli
First Stamp Issued: late 1920From left: For ‘РУССКОЙ
АРМiИ’ overprints, two
overprint confi gurations
were used on the larger,
Russian rouble stamps.
The 10,000r surcharge
was smaller with a curved
bottom, while the 20,000r
surcharge was larger with
a straight bottom;
a typical ‘РУССКОЙ //
АРМiИ’ surcharge on
the smaller stamps. Invert
errors are also common;
‘РУССКАЯ // ПОЧТА’
surcharge. Primarily
issued for philatelic
purposes, the surcharge
is usually thinner and
more diffi cult to read;
Wrangel also surcharged
stamps from other white
army regions, such as
this Ukraine trident stamp.
Stamps were overprinted
in many colourshttp://www.stampandcoin.co.uk APRIL 2016 59Find out more about ‘Dead Country’ stamps at: dcstamps.comp59 Dead countries - page no.indd 59 01/03/2016 11:35