Chapan War is an anti-Bolshevik peasant uprising in Simbirsk and Samara governorate, caused by mass discontent with the requisitions of bread and other resources carried out as part of the policy of War Communism (Prodrazvyorstka). It got its name from the clothing of the rebels (chapan is a winter belted coat made of sheepskin, the traditional clothing of peasants in the region during the cold weather).

 

The uprising was sparked by the events of March 3, 1919, in the village of Novodevichye, Simbirsk governorate, where peasants protested against the forced requisitioning of bread and livestock. In addition to Prodrazvyorstka, based on the decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee (VTsIK) dated October 30, 1918, the peasants were charged an extraordinary revolutionary tax, which was accompanied by the mobilization of horses for the transportation of fuel, troops, etc. Soon the uprising spread to the nearest districts. The total number of peasants involved in the movement reached 150,000.

 

The rebels distinguished the Soviets and the Bolshevik Party, speaking under the slogans “All power to the working people”, “Down with the domination of the Communists”, and “Long live the Soviets”. In the occupied villages, they dispersed the kombeds [Committees of the Rural Poor] and eliminated the Communists. The rebels captured the city of Stavropol on the Volga (now Tolyatti). Later the uprising spread to the left bank of the Volga, threatening Syzran and Samara. The rebels created their own governing bodies and published a newspaper. The leader of the uprising was a participant of the World War I Lieutenant Aleksei Dolinin.

 

The uprising was suppressed by regular units of the 4th Army of the Eastern Front of the Red Army commanded by Mikhail Frunze. They used artillery to fight the rebels. During the suppression of the uprising at least 1,000 rebels were killed and more than 600 people were shot on the verdict of courts-martial.

 

Peasant demonstrations similar to the Chapan War against the policy of War Communism took place in the spring of 1919 in other areas of the Volga region. To investigate the causes of the Chapan War, a Special Commission of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee (VTsIK) headed by Pyotr Smidovich was created. Its main task was to pacify the peasants and localize their discontent. Mass amnesty of the uprising participants began based on the Decree of the VTsIK dated April 25, 1919, "On the release from detention of certain categories of arrested and convicted persons".