Editing Anton Denikin (section)

== Exile ==
{{More citations needed | section|date=February 2024}}
Facing increasingly sharp criticism and emotionally exhausted, Denikin resigned in April 1920 in favor of General Baron [[Pyotr Wrangel]], who later established the [[Russian All-Military Union]]. Denikin left the [[Crimean Peninsula|Crimea]] by ship to Istanbul and then to London. He spent a few months in England, then moved to Belgium, and later to Hungary.

From 1926, Denikin lived in France. Although he remained bitterly opposed to Russia's Communist government, he chose to exist discreetly on the periphery of politics, spending most of his time writing and lecturing. This did not prevent the Soviets from unsuccessfully targeting him for abduction in the same effort that snared exiled General [[Alexander Kutepov]] in 1930 and General [[Yevgeny Miller]] in 1937 (both members of the Russian All-Military Union). ''White Against Red &ndash; The Life of General Anton Denikin'' gives possibly the definitive account of the intrigues during these early Soviet "wet-ops".
[[File:St. Nicholas Russian Orthodox Cathedral interior.jpg|left|thumb|Denikin's coffin in [[St. Nicholas Russian Orthodox Cathedral]], New York.]]

Denikin was a writer, and prior to World War I had written several pieces in which he criticised the shortcomings of his beloved Russian Army. His voluminous writings after the Russian Civil War (written while living in exile) are notable for their analytical tone and candour. Since he enjoyed writing and most of his income was derived from it, Denikin began to consider himself a full-time writer and developed close friendships with several Russian émigré authors—among them [[Ivan Bunin]] (a Nobel laureate), [[Ivan Shmelev]], and [[Aleksandr Kuprin]].

Although respected by some of the community of Russian exiles, Denikin was disliked by émigrés of both political extremes, right and left. With the fall of France in 1940, Denikin left Paris in order to avoid imprisonment by the Germans. Although he was eventually captured, he declined all attempts to co-opt him for use in Nazi [[anti-Soviet propaganda]]. The Germans did not press the matter and Denikin was allowed to remain in rural exile. Denikin denounced White Russian collaborators at a meeting in Paris in 1939.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=TIME |date=1939-01-02 |title=RUSSIA: White or Red |url=https://time.com/archive/6759844/russia-white-or-red/ |access-date=2024-11-04 |magazine=TIME |language=en}}</ref>{{blockquote|White or Red, our fatherland remains our fatherland. Whoever may aid Russia's enemies cannot call himself a patriot, no matter what ideological excuse he may use for taking money to fight his own people.}}In an attempt to deter potential collaborators, Denikin revealed that [[Adolf Hitler]] had informed several White Russian generals, including him, of his plans to drive east, break the [[Ukrainian SSR]], [[Georgian SSR]], and [[Azerbaijani SSR]] off from Soviet Russia, cut the Soviet Union off from the [[Black Sea]], and spread Nazi influence to the [[Caspian Sea]] and [[Caucasus Mountains]]. The plan was, according to Denikin, to "create a Ukraine independent of Moscow, in the serve of Germany, and through which they could march on Georgia and Azerbaijan." Denikin denounced, by name, a number of White Russian officers whom he accused of taking money from Nazi agents. He also denounced White Russians who were collaborating with Japan.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Royal Gazette |url=https://bnl.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/BermudaNP02/id/101459 |access-date=2025-03-04 |website=bnl.contentdm.oclc.org |language=en}}</ref><blockquote>"Nazis are not the only ones. The Japanese, too, have been successful, to our shame, in buying so-called White Russians to aid them."</blockquote>At the conclusion of [[World War II]], correctly anticipating their likely fate at the hands of [[Joseph Stalin]]'s [[Soviet Union]], Denikin tried to persuade the [[Allies of World War II|Western Allies]] not to forcibly repatriate Soviet POWs (see also [[Operation Keelhaul]]). He was largely unsuccessful in his effort.
[[File:Мемориал белым деятелям в Донском монастыре Москвы.jpg|thumb|Graves of Anton Denikin, Xenia Denikina, [[Vladimir Kappel]] and Ivan Ilyin at Donskoy Monastery in Moscow]]

From 1945 until his death in 1947, Denikin lived in the United States, in New York City. On 7 August 1947, at the age of 74, he died of a heart attack while on vacation near [[Ann Arbor, Michigan|Ann Arbor]], Michigan. Denikin was buried with military honours in Detroit. His remains were later transferred to St. Vladimir's Cemetery in [[Jackson, New Jersey]]. His wife, [[Xenia Denikina|Xenia Vasilievna Chizh]] (1892–1973), was buried at [[Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois Russian Cemetery|Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois cemetery]] near Paris.

On 3 October 2005, in accordance with the wishes of his daughter [[Marina Denikina]] and by authority of the President of Russia, [[Vladimir Putin]],  General Denikin's remains were transferred from the United States and buried together with [[Ivan Ilyin]]'s at the [[Donskoy Monastery]] in Moscow.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.rferl.org/a/1061851.html |publisher=[[Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty]] |title=Russia: White Army General Reburied In Moscow |first=Claire |last=Bigg |date=3 October 2005 |quote=Eighty-five years after fleeing into exile, General Anton Denikin was reburied with full honors at Moscow's Donskoy Monastery in a grand ceremony attended by some 2,500 people.}}</ref>

The importance of Denikin's diary for explaining the relationship between "Great and little Russia, Ukraine," was cited by Putin during his 24 May 2009 visit to the Donskoy Monastery. "He says nobody should be allowed to interfere between us. This is only Russia's right."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kyivpost.com/content/ukraine/putin-you-certainly-should-read-anton-denikins-dia-42032.html |title=Putin: 'You certainly should read' Anton Denikin's diary; specifically the part about 'Great and little Russia, Ukraine. He says nobody should be allowed to interfere between us. This is only Russia's - May 24, 2009 |publisher=KyivPost |date=24 May 2009 |access-date=11 September 2018}}</ref> Putin emphasized that Denikin's diary was worth reading, especially the passages in which he described Ukraine as an indivisible part of Russia.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.rosalux.de/en/news/id/46176/the-forgotten-history-of-ukrainian-independence|title=The Forgotten History of Ukrainian Independence - Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung|website=www.rosalux.de|date=21 March 2022 |accessdate=18 December 2022}}</ref>

{{Commons category|Anton Denikin}}