The Siberian Ice March: Kolchak's White Army Retreat

In the winter of 1919-20, as the Red Army closed in, Admiral Alexander Kolchak's White forces began a desperate retreat across Siberia. This episode follows the Siberian Ice March—a catastrophic 2,000-kilometer trek along the Trans-Siberian Railway from Omsk to Irkutsk. Temperatures plunged to minus 50 degrees Celsius. Typhus ravaged the ranks. Kolchak's gold reserve, 500 tons of bullion, became a burden and a target. We explore the collapse of the Omsk government, the betrayal by the Czech Legions, and the harrowing fate of the civilians who fled east. Key figures include Admiral Kolchak, General Vladimir Kappel (whose frostbitten feet were amputated without anesthesia), and the socialist-revolutionary Political Centre that seized power in Irkutsk. We also discuss the legend of the lost Kolchak gold—did it vanish into Lake Baikal, or was it divided among the Czechs? This is a story of idealism frozen solid, of a white movement that couldn't outrun the winter.

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