The collapse of the Russian Empire and the establishment of Soviet power. Composition of the Russian Empire

Plan:

Introduction

• 1 Occupation of Poland in 1915
• 2 1917 (March - October)
  • 2.1 Finnish separatism
  • 2.2 Ukrainian separatism
  • 2.3 Belarus
  • 2.4 Baltics
    • 2.4.1
    • 2.4.2 Latvia
    • 2.4.3 Lithuania
  • 2.5 Transcaucasia
  • 2.6 Kazakhstan
  • 2.7 Crimean separatism
  • 2.8 Tatar separatism
  • 2.9 Kuban
  • 2.10 Don Army
  • 2.11 Other regions
• 3 November 1917 - January 1918
  • 3.1 Ukraine
  • 3.2 Moldova
  • 3.3 Finland
  • 3.4 Transcaucasia
  • 3.5 Belarus
  • 3.6 Baltics
    • 3.6.1
    • 3.6.2 Latvia
    • 3.6.3 Lithuania
  • 3.7 Crimea
  • 3.8 Kuban
  • 3.9 Don Army
• 4 February-May 1918
  • 4.1 Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
  • 4.2 The German offensive in the spring of 1918 and its consequences
  • 4.3 Ukraine
  • 4.4 Finland and Karelia
  • 4.5 Transcaucasia Branch
  • 4.6 Belarus
  • 4.7 Moldova
  • 4.8 Baltics
    • 4.8.1
    • 4.8.2 Latvia
    • 4.8.3 Lithuania
  • 4.9 Cossack regions
• 5 May - October 1918. Intervention of Entente troops. Revolt of the Czechoslovak Corps
  • 5.1 Rise of the Czechoslovak Corps, Komuch, Siberia
  • 5.2 Expansion of Entente intervention
  • 5.3 Pro-German puppet regimes
  • 5.4 Transcaucasia
• 6 The situation by November 1918
• 7 The November Revolution in Germany and its consequences
  • 7.1 Collapse of pro-German puppet regimes
  • 7.2 Polish-Western Ukrainian conflict (November 1918 - January 1919)
  • 7.3 Soviet offensive. November 1918 - February 1919
  • 7.4 Union intervention in Novorossiya and Transcaucasia, November 1918 - April 1919
  • 7.5 Reaction of the Czechoslovak Legion
Notes
Literature

Introduction

Collapse of the Russian Empire- the period of Russian history from 1916 to 1923, characterized by the processes of formation on the territory of the former Russian Empire of various state entities, the processes of territorial disintegration of the Russian Empire and its successors (Russian Republic, RSFSR), which began with the German occupation of Poland in 1915 and ended with the annexation of the Far Eastern Republic to the RSFSR in 1922 [ source not specified 28 days] .

The February Revolution of 1917 leads to a noticeable increase in separatism, primarily Polish and Finnish. The October Revolution of 1917 proclaimed, in particular, the independence of Finland. Attempts by the Bolshevik government to regain control over the virtually fallen western national borderlands (Finland, Ukraine, Estonia, etc.) collapsed during the German offensive in the spring of 1918. The uprising of the Czechoslovak Corps in the summer of 1918 becomes a catalyst for further disintegration, causing the formation of governments not controlled by Moscow already on the territory of Russia itself. During the Civil War, the Bolsheviks regained control over most of the territory of the former Russian Empire.

1. Occupation of Poland in 1915

The territory of the Russian Empire at the beginning of its collapse

During the divisions of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the territory of Poland was divided between three empires - Russian, German and Austro-Hungarian. With the outbreak of World War I, both sides tried to win over the Poles. Russia already on August 14, 1914 put forward a project for the unification, in the event of its victory, of all Polish lands, and the restoration of autonomy within the Russian Empire.

During the German offensive in the spring-summer of 1915, Poland, part of the Baltic states, and almost half of Belarus came under occupation. On November 5, 1916, the German and Austro-Hungarian emperors proclaimed the creation of an independent Poland in the Russian part of Poland they occupied. Kingdom of Poland. Since December 1916, Poland has been ruled by the Provisional State Council, then, in the absence of the king, by the Regency Council. Formally independent, this state is defined by modern researchers as a pro-German puppet regime. The Central Powers supported the creation of the Polish army (German). Polnische Wehrmacht), which was created to help Germany in the war, but the mobilization carried out by Colonel Wladyslaw Sikorski did not find support among the Poles and produced insignificant results: by the end of the Regency the army had only about 5,000 men.

2. 1917 (March - October)

After the February Revolution in Russia, on March 4, 1917, the Provisional Government adopted a resolution to remove all governors and vice-governors from office. In the provinces where the zemstvos worked, the governors were replaced by the chairmen of the provincial zemstvo boards, where there were no zemstvos, the places remained unoccupied, which paralyzed the local government system.

On March 16, 1917, the Provisional Government recognizes the independence of Poland (de facto independent since the beginning of the German occupation in 1915) subject to the conclusion of a “free military alliance” with Russia.

2.1. Finnish separatism

The abdication of Nicholas II from the throne on March 2, 1917 automatically terminated the personal union with Finland. On March 7 (20), 1917, the Provisional Government issued an Act approving the Constitution of the Grand Duchy of Finland, returning to Finland all the rights of the times of autonomy and abolishing all restrictions from the period of Russification.

On March 13 (26), 1917, to replace the Russified Senate of Borovitinov, a new one was formed - the Finnish coalition Senate of Tokoya. The Chairman of the Finnish Senate was still the Russian Governor-General of Finland. On March 31, the Provisional Government appointed Mikhail Stakhovich to this position.

At the height of the July crisis, the Finnish parliament declared the independence of the Grand Duchy of Finland from Russia in internal affairs and limited the competence of the Russian Provisional Government to issues of military and foreign policy. On July 5 (18), when the outcome of the Bolshevik uprising in Petrograd was unclear, the Finnish parliament approved a social democratic project to transfer supreme power to itself. However, this law to restore the autonomous rights of Finland was rejected by the Russian Provisional Government, the Finnish Parliament was dissolved, and its building was occupied by Russian troops.

On September 8, the last Finnish Senate that had Russian control over it was formed - the Setäli Senate. (September 4 (17), 1917, a new governor general was appointed - Nikolai Nekrasov.

2.2. Ukrainian separatism

On March 4 (17), 1917, the All-Ukrainian Congress met in Kyiv, at which the Central Ukrainian Rada was formed. Initially, the Central Rada, being in fact a coordinating body for nationalist Ukrainian parties, recognized the supremacy of the Provisional Government and announced its desire to create an autonomous Ukraine within federal Russia.

Since April 1917, the Central Rada forms an executive body (Malaya Rada) and begins to demand the expansion of its powers, in particular, it proclaims the autonomy of Ukraine, calls for admission to participation in the peace conference following the war “except for representatives of the warring powers, and representatives of the peoples on whose territory there is a war, including in Ukraine,” and to the creation of a national Ukrainian army, as well as the Ukrainization of the Black Sea Fleet and individual ships of the Baltic Fleet, to begin the Ukrainization of both primary schools and secondary and higher schools “both in terms of language and teaching subjects” , Ukrainization of the administrative apparatus, funding the Central Rada, granting amnesty or rehabilitation of repressed persons of Ukrainian nationality. On June 3, 1917, the Provisional Government unanimously rejected recognition of the autonomy of Ukraine.

Despite this, on June 10 (23), 1917, the UCR proclaimed its First Universal, which introduced additional fees from the population in favor of the Rada. On June 15 (28), the first Ukrainian government was formed - the General Secretariat.

On June 26, the General Secretariat adopted a Declaration, which named the Central Rada “not only the highest executive, but also the legislative body of the entire organized Ukrainian people.”

From June 28 to July 2, negotiations were held in Kyiv with the delegation of the Provisional Government, headed by ministers M. I. Tereshchenko and I. G. Tsereteli on the division of powers of the UCR and the Executive Committee of the Kiev City Duma, which played the role of the representative of the Provisional Government in Kyiv. The negotiations ended with an agreement in which the Provisional Government recognized the right to self-determination for “every people” and the legislative powers of the Central Rada. At the same time, the delegation, without the consent of the Government, outlined the geographical boundaries of the Rada’s jurisdiction, including several southwestern provinces of Russia. These events caused a government crisis in Petrograd: on July 2 (15), all the Cadet ministers resigned in protest against the actions of the Kyiv delegation. The Provisional Government was to set out in detail the basis of the new line on the Ukrainian question in a special declaration, which was supposed to be published simultaneously, or immediately after the Universal Rada. However, the Declaration, issued on August 8, spoke about much more than problems of national policy.

In response, the Provisional Government issued on August 4 “Temporary Instructions to the General Secretariat of the Provisional Administration in Ukraine.” The territory of Ukraine was determined as part of 5 provinces - Kyiv, Volyn, Podolsk, Poltava and Chernigov. The number of general secretaries was reduced to 7, issues related to the military department, communications, mail and telegraph were removed from their jurisdiction), quotas were introduced based on nationality; at least four of the general secretaries had to be non-Ukrainians. All appointments in local government bodies had to be approved by the Provisional Government.

At the end of September, the Declaration of the General Secretariat was published, which stated that the Secretariat for Military Affairs should be given the right to appoint and remove “military officials in military districts on the territory of Ukraine and in all Ukrainian military units,” and the “supreme military authority” of the Provisional Government Only the right to approve these orders is recognized. In response, by a resolution of the Senate, due to the absence of a resolution on the establishment of the Central Rada, it decided to consider the Rada, as well as the General Secretariat and the Instruction of August 4, “non-existent”. At the beginning of October, the Provisional Government sent a telegram to the Chairman of the General Secretariat V.K. Vinnichenko, Comptroller General A.N. Zarubin and General Secretary I.M. Steshenko to Petrograd “for personal explanations.”

The Central Rada organized a protest resolution in which those who adopted the resolution “will support the General Secretariat and the Central Rada with all means at their disposal and will not allow investigations into the Ukrainian revolutionary people’s institution.” The resolution of the All-Ukrainian Council of Military Deputies called for “completely ignoring” the appointment of the Kiev Commissioner by the Provisional Government. Appointments to posts in the Kiev Military District without the knowledge of the Central Rada were called “an unacceptable and certainly harmful act.” In addition, it was prohibited to carry out the orders of any official “appointed without the consent of the Central Rada.”

2.3. Belarus

Since July 1917, Belarusian national forces became more active in Belarus, which, on the initiative of the Belarusian Socialist Community, held the Second Congress of Belarusian National Organizations and decided to seek autonomy for Belarus within democratic republican Russia. At the congress the Central Rada was formed.

2.4. Baltics

By February 1917, all of Lithuania and part of Latvia were occupied by German troops; Estonia and part of Latvia remained under the control of the Russian government.

2.4.1. Estonia

On March 3 (16), 1917, the Revel Council of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies was elected. At the same time, former Revel mayor Jaan Poska was appointed commissar of the Provisional Government of the Estonian province.

On March 9 (22), the Tallinn Estonian Union was organized in Reval, which demanded that the Provisional Government join the northern counties of Livonia to the Estonian province and introduce autonomy. On March 26 (April 8), a 40,000-strong demonstration in support of autonomy took place in Petrograd. On March 30 (April 12), 1917, the All-Russian Provisional Government issued a decree “On the temporary structure of administrative management and local self-government of the Estonian province”, according to which the northern counties of the Livonia province with an Estonian population (Yuryevsky, Pernovsky, Fellinsky, Verro and Ezel districts, as well as the volosts of Valka district inhabited by Estonians; the exact new border between the Estonian and Livonia provinces was never established) and an advisory body was created under the provincial commissar - the Temporary Zemsky Council of the Estonian province (Estonian Maapäev), which became the first all-Estonian meeting of people's representatives. The zemstvo council was elected by district zemstvo councils and city dumas. 62 deputies were elected to the provincial Zemsky Council; the first meeting took place on July 1 (14), 1917 in Revel (Arthur Wallner was elected chairman).

At the First Estonian National Congress, held on July 3-4 (16-17) in Reval, a demand was put forward to transform Estland into an autonomous region of the Russian Democratic Federative Republic. However, the leading political forces in Russia did not support the idea of ​​federalization of the country, and the Provisional Government postponed the solution of the national question until the convening of the Constituent Assembly.

Since April 1917, Estonian national military units began to be created in the Russian army (the organizing committee was formed on April 8 (20).

On May 31 (June 13) the First Estonian Church Congress took place in Reval, at which it was decided to form an independent Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church.

The Revel Council of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies organized and held on July 23-27 (August 5-9), 1917 in Revel the First Congress of Soviets of the Estonian Province, at which the Executive Committee of the Councils of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies of the Estonian Province (All-Estonia Executive Committee of the Soviets) was elected.

During the Moonsund operation on September 6 (19) - September 23 (October 6), 1917, the German fleet broke into the Gulf of Riga and occupied the islands of the Moonsund archipelago.

2.4.2. Latvia

In September 1917, in Riga, occupied by German troops, Latvian political parties formed a coalition - the Democratic Bloc ( Demokrātiskais bloks).

2.4.3. Lithuania

On September 18-22, with the permission of the German occupation authorities, the Vilnius Conference was held, which elected the Lithuanian Tariba (Council of Lithuania).

2.5. Transcaucasia

To manage the Caucasian governorship, on March 9 (22), 1917, the Provisional Government formed the Special Transcaucasian Committee (OZAKOM) from members of the 4th State Duma in Tiflis. Vasily Kharlamov became the Chairman of the Committee.

2.6. Kazakhstan

At the First All-Kazakh Congress, held in Orenburg from July 21 to July 28, 1917, the Alash party was organized and demanded autonomy.

2.7. Crimean separatism

On March 25, 1917, a Crimean Tatar kurultai was held in Simferopol, which was attended by over 2,000 delegates. The Kurultai elected the Temporary Crimean Muslim Executive Committee (VKMIK), the head of which was Noman Celebidzhikhan. The Provisional Crimean Muslim Executive Committee received recognition from the Provisional Government as the only authorized and legal administrative body representing all Crimean Tatars.

2.8. Tatar separatism

The 1st All-Russian Muslim Congress in early May 1917 in Moscow adopted a resolution on territorial autonomy and a federal structure. Active supporters of the creation of their own state within Russia were, in particular, Ilyas and Dzhangir Alkin, Galimzhan Ibragimov, Usman Tokumbetov and some others, later elected by the 1st All-Russian Muslim Military Congress to the All-Russian Muslim Military Council - Kharbi Shuro. The 2nd All-Russian Muslim Congress in July 1917 in Kazan brought together more supporters of national-cultural autonomy. At a joint meeting of this congress with the 1st All-Russian Muslim Military Congress and the All-Russian Congress of Muslim Clergy on July 22, 1917, the National-Cultural Autonomy of the Muslim Turkic-Tatars of Inner Russia and Siberia was proclaimed. In addition, on July 27, at the 3rd meeting of the 2nd All-Russian Muslim Congress, based on the report of Sadri Maksudi, a coordinating body, the National Council, the Milli Majlis, was established, with its seat in the city of Ufa.

2.9. Kuban

In April 1917, the Kuban Cossack Army created a political organization - the Kuban Rada. On September 24, 1917, the Kuban Rada decided to create the Legislative Rada (parliament).

2.10. Don Army

After the February Revolution, the Don Military Circle (Congress) and its executive bodies: the Military Government and the Don Regional Ataman began to play an increasingly important role in the Don.

2.11. Other regions

From September 21 to September 28, 1917, on the initiative of the Ukrainian Central Rada, the Congress of the Peoples of Russia, represented mainly by separatist movements, was held in Kyiv. The main issue discussed at the congress was the question of the federal structure of Russia.

3. November 1917 - January 1918

A new surge of separatism occurred with the coming to power of the Bolsheviks, who adopted the Declaration of the Rights of the Peoples of Russia on November 2, 1917, which recognized the right to free self-determination up to complete separation. On November 12 (25), 1917, elections to the Constituent Assembly of Russia were held. On January 5 (18), 1918, the Constituent Assembly met for its first meeting in Petrograd, and on January 6 (19) it proclaimed Russian Democratic Federative Republic and a few hours later it is dissolved by the All-Russian Central Executive Committee.

3.1. Ukraine

Simon Petliura, since 1900 - Social Democrat, since 1914 - member of the All-Russian Union of Zemstvos and Cities. After the collapse of the regime, Hetman Skoropadsky captured Kyiv in December 1918, and restored the regime of the Ukrainian People's Republic.

By the beginning of the October Revolution, three main political forces claimed power in Kyiv: the Ukrainian Central Rada, the authorities of the Provisional Government (City Council and the headquarters of the Kyiv Military District) and the Kiev Council. In the city there were up to 7 thousand fighters of revolutionary detachments, including up to 3 thousand Red Guards, while the headquarters of the Kyiv Military District had up to 12 thousand people. In addition, the government of the Central Rada had its own (“Ukrainized”) troops.

On October 27 (November 9), the Kiev Council adopted a resolution supporting the Bolshevik uprising in Petrograd and declared itself the only power in Kyiv. On October 29 (November 11), an uprising began, supported by a strike of up to 20 thousand workers that began on October 30 (November 12). By October 31 (November 13), the Bolsheviks occupied the headquarters of the Kyiv Military District, the command of which fled the city on November 1 (November 14). However, the uprising ended in failure: the Central Rada gathered loyal units to Kyiv, including transferring troops from the front. Within a few days the Bolsheviks were driven out of the city.

7 (November 20) The Ukrainian Central Rada declared its III Universal with a certain territory as part of federal Russia. At the same time, the UCR approved the law on elections to the Constituent Assembly of Ukraine and a number of other laws. On November 12 (November 25), direct democratic elections to the All-Russian Constituent Assembly were held, in which many figures from the Central Rada took part. According to the election results, the Bolsheviks received 10%, the other parties - 75%.

On December 3 (December 16), the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR recognized Ukraine's right to self-determination. At the same time, in the first half of December 1917, Antonov-Ovseenko’s troops occupied the Kharkov region, and on December 4 (December 17), the government of Soviet Russia demanded that the Central Rada “provide assistance to the revolutionary troops in their fight against the counter-revolutionary Cadet-Kaledin uprising,” but the Central I was glad to reject this ultimatum. On the initiative of the Bolsheviks, preparations began for the convocation of the First All-Ukrainian Congress of Soviets, but they failed to obtain a majority at the Congress. The Bolsheviks refused to recognize the legitimacy of the Congress, forming a parallel Congress from their supporters, which was held on December 11-12 (24-25), 1917 in Kharkov, where it was proclaimed Ukrainian People's Republic of Soviets(as part of the Russian Federation) and the People's Secretariat (government) was elected, while in Kyiv the power of the Central Rada and its executive body, the General Secretariat, was retained. In December 1917 - January 1918, an armed struggle for the establishment of Soviet power unfolded in Ukraine. As a result of the fighting, the troops of the Central Rada were defeated and the Bolsheviks took power in Yekaterinoslav, Poltava, Kremenchug, Elizavetgrad, Nikolaev, Kherson and other cities. December 21, 1917 (January 3, 1918 new style) at a meeting of the presidium Rumcheroda(Council of Soldiers' Deputies from Room Yyn Front, Cher naval fleet and Od Essa), who had real power in Odessa, the city was declared a free city. According to the head of the General Secretariat Dmitry Doroshenko,

In all major centers, the power of the Central Rada government existed only nominally by the end of the year. In Kyiv they were aware of this, but they could not do anything.

Estimated borders of the UPR for February 1918

On December 22, 1917 (January 4, 1918) the UCR delegation arrives in Brest-Litovsk to independently participate in peace negotiations. Trotsky was forced to recognize the Ukrainian delegation as an independent party to the negotiation process.

After the Bolsheviks dispersed the Constituent Assembly (January 6 (18), 1918), the Central Rada on January 9 (22), 1918, proclaimed the adoption of the IV Universal Ukrainian People's Republic an independent and sovereign country (its territory extended to 9 provinces of the former Russian Empire).

Almost simultaneously - on January 16 (29), an uprising broke out in Kyiv under the leadership of the Bolsheviks, and on January 13 (January 26, new style), 1918, the Rumcherod uprising began in Odessa.

The uprising in Kyiv was suppressed by the evening of January 22 (February 4), 1918, and the uprising in Odessa ended in success and on January 18 the city was proclaimed Odessa Soviet Republic, which recognized the highest authority in the person of the Council of People's Commissars of Petrograd and the Soviet government in Kharkov. Formally, Bessarabia was included in the Odessa Republic, in the capital of which (Chisinau) on January 13, 1918, the revolutionary headquarters of the Soviet troops of the Bessarabia region organized the seizure of all the most important objects. However, on January 18, UPR troops invaded Bessarabia, and the next day Romania launched an offensive.

On January 26 (February 8), 1918, Bolshevik units under the command of Muravyov occupied Kyiv. The next day, January 27, 1918 (February 9, 1918), the UPR delegation in Brest-Litovsk signed a separate separate peace with the Central Powers, which included recognition of the sovereignty of Ukraine and military assistance against Soviet troops in exchange for food supplies.

3.2. Moldova

After the October Revolution, the assistant commander-in-chief of the Romanian Front, General Shcherbachev (actually acting commander-in-chief), managed for some time to contain the decomposition of the front troops under the influence of revolutionary events and Bolshevik agitation. Shcherbachev ensured that the front committee on October 30 (November 12), 1917, decided not to recognize Soviet power. French military representatives on the Romanian Front (the headquarters of the Romanian Front and General Berthelot were located in the city of Iasi) supported General Shcherbachev. He was allowed to begin peace negotiations with the Austro-Germans. On November 26 (December 9) a truce was concluded in Focsani between the combined Russian-Romanian and German-Austrian troops. This allowed Shcherbachev to begin suppressing Bolshevik influence in the army. On the night of December 5 (18), he instructed troops loyal to the Central Rada to occupy all headquarters. This was followed by the disarmament by the Romanians of those units in which the Bolshevik influence was strong. Left without weapons and food, Russian soldiers were forced to leave on foot for Russia in the severe frost. The Romanian Front virtually ceased to exist in mid-December 1917.

On November 21 (December 4), 1917, at the Military Moldavian Congress, Sfatul Tarii was formed, which on December 2 (15), 1917, adopted a declaration proclaiming the formation Moldavian Democratic Republic :

The republic was recognized by the Bolshevik government. On December 7, 1917, with the consent of Sfatul Tarii, Romanian troops crossed the Prut and occupied several Moldovan border villages. On January 8, Romanian troops launched an attack on the northern and southern regions of the Moldavian Democratic Republic and on January 13, after minor battles with Rumcherod’s troops, they occupied Chisinau, and by the beginning of February the entire central and southern part of Moldova. At the same time, the north of Moldova was occupied by Austro-Hungarian troops.

On January 24 (February 6), 1918, Sfatul Tarii proclaimed the independence of the Moldavian Democratic Republic.

3.3. Finland

Civil War in Finland January - May 1918

On November 15 (28), 1917, the Finnish Parliament assumed the highest power in the country and formed a new government - the Senate of Finland under the leadership of Per Evind Svinhuvud (see Svinhuvud Senate), which authorized its chairman to submit a draft of the new Constitution of Finland to Eduskunta. On November 21 (December 4), 1917, submitting the draft of the new Constitution to the Finnish Parliament for consideration, the Chairman of the Senate, Per Evind Svinhufvud, read out the statement of the Senate of Finland “To the People of Finland”, which announced the intention to change the political system of Finland (to adopt a republican method of government), and it also contained an appeal “to the authorities of foreign states” (in particular to the Constituent Assembly of Russia) with a request for recognition of the political independence and sovereignty of Finland (which was later called the “Declaration of Finnish Independence”). On November 23 (December 6), 1917, this statement (declaration) was approved by the Finnish Parliament by a vote of 100 to 88.

December 18 (31), 1917 state independence Republic of Finland was first recognized by the Council of People's Commissars (government) of the Russian Soviet Republic, headed by Vladimir Lenin. In January 1918, Finland's independence was recognized by Germany and France.

Simultaneously with these events, the confrontation intensified between supporters of the Social Democratic Party of Finland (whose main forces were units of the Finnish Red Guard - “Reds”) and the Finnish Senate (on whose side were self-defense units (security detachments, the Finnish Guard Corps) - “Whites”) . In addition, there were about 80 thousand Russian army troops in the country.

On January 27, a Red uprising began in the country, organized by the People's Council of Finland, which led to the outbreak of a civil war. Despite the fact that both sides called the country the same: republic and Finland, in its only international treaty, the “red” government of Finland uses the concept of Finnish Socialist Workers' Republic.

3.4. Transcaucasia

On November 11 (24), 1917, at a meeting on the issue of organizing local authorities in Transcaucasia in connection with the October Revolution, a decision was made to create the “Independent Government of Transcaucasia” ( Transcaucasian Commissariat), which would replace the functions of the OZAK created by the Provisional Government “only until the convening of the All-Russian Constituent Assembly, and if it is impossible to convene ... until the congress of members of the Constituent Assembly from Transcaucasia and the Caucasian Front.”

On December 5 (18), 1917, the so-called Erzincan Truce was concluded between Russian and Turkish troops on the Caucasian Front. This led to a massive withdrawal of Russian troops from Western (Turkish) Armenia to Russian territory. By the beginning of 1918, Turkish forces in Transcaucasia were actually opposed by only a few thousand Caucasian (mostly Armenian) volunteers under the command of two hundred officers.

On January 12 (25), 1918, after the dispersal of the Constituent Assembly, the Transcaucasian Commissariat, having discussed the issue of the political situation, decided to convene the Transcaucasian Sejm from delegates from Transcaucasia to the All-Russian Constituent Assembly as the legislative body of Transcaucasia.

3.5. Belarus

After the October coup in Petrograd, power on the territory of Belarus passed to the Bolshevik Regional Executive Committee of the Western Region and Front (Obliskomzap).

At the same time, separatist forces in Belarus became more active. The Belarusian Central Rada was transformed into the Great Belarusian Rada (GBR). The VBR did not recognize the authority of the ObliskomZap, which it considered exclusively a front-line body. In December 1917, by order of the Obliskomzap, the All-Belarusian Congress was dispersed.

3.6. Baltics

3.6.1. Estonia

During October 23-25 ​​(November 5-7), 1917, power in the Estonian province, with the exception of the Moonsund archipelago occupied by German troops, passed to the Councils of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies represented by Military Revolutionary Committee of the Estonian Province(chairman - I.V. Rabchinsky, deputy chairman - V.E. Kingisepp), and on October 27 (November 9) Jaan Poska officially transferred all matters related to the management of the Estonian province to the authorized Military Revolutionary Committee V.E. Kingisepp. The Executive Committee of the Councils of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies of the Estonian Governorate was declared the supreme authority. At the same time, the Zemsky Council continued to function, and the formation of Estonian military units continued.

On November 15 (28), 1917, the Provisional Zemsky Council of the Estonian Governorate announced the convening of the Estonian Constituent Assembly in the near future “to determine the future state structure of Estonia,” and before the convening of the Assembly, it declared itself the supreme power in the country. On November 19 (December 2), the Executive Committee of the Estonian Council of Workers, Military, Landless and Landless Deputies decided to dissolve the Zemsky Council, but at the same time supported the idea of ​​convening the Constituent Assembly and scheduled elections for January 21-22 (February 3-4), 1918. Despite the dissolution, the Zemsky Council continued its underground activities through its bodies - the board, the council of elders, and the zemstvo council.

At the end of 1917, the territory of Estonia expanded. By a resolution of the Executive Committee of the Council of Estonia dated December 23, 1917 (January 5, 1918), the city of Narva was transferred from the Petrograd province to the Estonian province, and Narva district was formed within it. The new district included the city of Narva, Vaivarskaya, Syrenetskaya volosts, Iizaku and Jykhvi volosts of the Wezenberg district of the Estonian province and a number of villages of the Yamburg district of the Petrograd province. This decision was made based on the results of the plebiscite held on December 10 (23), 1917.

On January 21-22 (February 3-4), 1918, elections to the Estonian Constituent Assembly were held, as a result of which the RSDLP (b) took first place, receiving 37.1% of the votes. The Constituent Assembly was supposed to open on February 15, 1918.

In December 1917, on the island of Naissaar, which served as a naval base covering the entrance to the Revel roadstead, it was proclaimed Soviet Republic of Sailors and Builders.

3.6.2. Latvia

At the beginning of December 1917, the Latvian Provisional National Council (LPNC) was formed on the territory not occupied by the Germans in Valka.

Almost simultaneously, on December 24, 1917 (January 6, 1918) in the Latvian city of Valka, the Executive Committee of the Council of Workers', Soldiers' and Landless Deputies of Latvia (Iskolat) adopted a declaration on self-determination of Latvia. Was formed Republic of Iskolata, whose power extended to areas of Latvia not occupied by German troops. Fricis Rozin (Rozins) became the Chairman of the Government of the Republic of Iskolat.

On January 1, the Executive Committee banned the activities of the LVNS, but Fricis Rozin suspended this decision and the LVNS was able to continue its activities. On January 30, 1918, the Latvian Provisional National Council decided to create a sovereign and democratic Latvia, which should include all regions populated by Latvians.

3.6.3. Lithuania

On December 11 (24), 1917, the Lithuanian Tariba adopted a declaration of independence in the “eternal allied ties of the Lithuanian state with Germany.”

3.7. Crimea

In November 1917, an independent state was proclaimed in Crimea. Crimean People's Republic- the first Muslim state of the republican system. The state existed until January 1918, when the Bolsheviks came to power in Crimea, liquidating the republic.

3.8. Kuban

The Kuban Rada did not recognize Soviet power. On January 28, 1918, the Kuban Regional Military Rada, headed by N. S. Ryabovol, proclaimed an independent state on the lands of the former Kuban region Kuban People's Republic with its capital in Ekaterinodar. On February 16, 1918, her government was elected, headed by L. L. Bych.

3.9. Don Army

On October 26, 1917, General Kaledin declared martial law on the Don, the Military Government assumed full state power in the region. Within a month, the Soviets in the cities of the Don region are liquidated. On December 2, 1917, Kaledin’s Cossack units occupied Rostov. On December 25, 1917 (January 7, 1918) the creation of the Volunteer Army was announced.

In January 1918, the Council of People's Commissars of Soviet Russia created the Southern Revolutionary Front under the command of A.I. Antonov-Ovseenko. As these troops move south, supporters of the new government in the Don region become more active. On January 10 (23), 1918, the Congress of Front-line Cossacks opens, which declares itself the power in the Don region, declares A. M. Kaledin deposed from the post of ataman, elects the Cossack Military Revolutionary Committee headed by F. G. Podtyolkov and M. V. Krivoshlykov , and recognizes the authority of the Council of People's Commissars. On January 29 (February 11), Ataman A. M. Kaledin shot himself.

On March 23, 1918, on the territory of the Don occupied by the Bolsheviks, Don Soviet Republic- an autonomous entity within the RSFSR.

4. February-May 1918

4.1. Treaty of Brest-Litovsk

With the Bolsheviks coming to power, on October 26, 1917, they proclaimed the Decree on Peace, which invited all warring peoples to immediately conclude a “fair democratic peace without annexations and indemnities.” On December 9, 1917, separate negotiations with Germany on immediate peace began; from December 20, the Russian delegation was headed by People's Commissar L. D. Trotsky.

The conditions put forward by the Germans were shameful for Russia, and included the seizure of vast national borderlands in the west of the former Russian Empire, the payment of reparations to Germany and compensation to persons of German nationality who suffered during the revolutionary events. In addition, Germany actually negotiated with Ukraine separately, as an independent power.

Trotsky proposes an unexpected formula of “no peace, no war,” which consisted of artificially delaying negotiations in the hope of a quick revolution in Germany itself. At a meeting of the Central Committee of the RSDLP(b), the majority (9 votes to 7) supported Trotsky’s proposal.

However, this strategy failed. On February 9, 1918, the German delegation in Brest-Litovsk, by order of Kaiser Wilhelm II, presented the first ultimatum to the Bolsheviks; on February 16, they notified the Soviet side of the resumption of hostilities on February 18 at 12:00. On February 21, the German side presented a second, tougher ultimatum. On the same day, the Council of People's Commissars adopted the decree “The Socialist Fatherland is in danger!”, began mass recruitment into the Red Army, and on February 23 the first clashes of the Red Army with the advancing German units took place.

On February 23, the Central Committee of the RSDLP (b), under pressure from Lenin, nevertheless decided to accept the German ultimatum. On March 3, 1918, under pressure from Lenin, peace was signed on German terms.

The VII Congress of the RSDLP(b) (at this congress renamed the RCP(b)), which worked on March 6-8, 1918, adopted a resolution approving the conclusion of peace (30 votes for, 12 against, 4 abstained). On March 15, the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was ratified at the IV Congress of Soviets.

4.2. The German offensive in the spring of 1918 and its consequences

Territories occupied by Germany under the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk

In February 1918, after the Soviet side delayed the peace negotiations in Brest, the German army went on the offensive.

After the conclusion of the Brest-Litovsk Peace Treaty, the German army practically unhindered occupied the Baltic states, Belarus, Ukraine, landed in Finland, and entered the lands of the Don Army. Turkish troops begin an offensive in Transcaucasia and eliminate Soviet power there.

By May 1918, German-Austrian troops liquidated the Republic of Iskolata (Latvia), the Soviet republics in Ukraine.

4.3. Ukraine

According to the separate peace between the UPR and the Central Powers, in early February 1918, German and Austrian troops were introduced into the territory of Ukraine. On March 1, German troops entered Kyiv and restored the power of the Central Rada in the city.

At the same time, in Kharkov on February 12, along with the already existing Ukrainian People's Republic of Soviets, the Donetsk-Krivoy Rog Republic.

On March 7-10, 1918 in Simferopol, elected at the First Constituent Congress of Soviets, Revolutionary Committees and Land Committees of the Tauride Province, the Tavria Central Executive Committee announced by decrees dated March 19 and 21 the creation Tavrian SSR.

On March 19, 1918, in Yekaterinoslav, all Soviet entities on the territory of Ukraine (Donetsk-Krivoy Rog Soviet Republic, Ukrainian People's Republic of Soviets, Odessa Soviet Republic, Soviet Socialist Republic of Taurida) proclaimed their unification into a single Ukrainian Soviet Republic within the RSFSR. Despite this decision, some of the Soviet republics formally continued to exist in parallel with the new state formation, but as a result of the German offensive, by the end of April 1918, the territory was occupied by German troops, and the republics themselves were liquidated.

In addition, on April 29, 1918, the Central Rada was dispersed by German troops, the Ukrainian People's Republic was liquidated, and in its place was created Ukrainian state led by Hetman Skoropadsky.

4.4. Finland and Karelia

One of the founders of the Finnish Republic, Karl Mannerheim in the uniform of a cavalry guard, 1896

During the civil war in Finland, Soviet Russia supported the troops of the Finnish Socialist Workers' Republic, and the Finnish Republic was supported by Sweden and Germany. However, with the start of the German offensive in February 1918, Soviet Russia was forced to sharply reduce its assistance to the “Reds”, and under the terms of the Brest-Litovsk Treaty, Russian troops were withdrawn from Finland (which, however, did not take an active part in the civil war), and the Baltic Fleet left Helsingfors. Moreover, the weapons and ammunition of the Russian troops for the most part go to the “whites”.

At the same time, the leadership of the Finnish “whites” announces plans to expand the territory of Finland at the expense of Karelia. However, there was no official declaration of war from Finland. In March 1918, “volunteer” Finnish detachments invaded the territory of Karelia and occupied the village of Ukhta. On March 15, Finnish General Mannerheim approves the “Wallenius Plan”, which provides for the seizure of part of the former territory of the Russian Empire up to the line Petsamo (Pechenga) - Kola Peninsula - White Sea - Lake Onega - Svir River - Lake Ladoga. . In addition, it is proposed to transform Petrograd into a “free city-republic” like Danzig. On March 17-18 in Ukhta “ Provisional Committee for Eastern Karelia”, which adopted a resolution on the annexation of Eastern Karelia to Finland. The actions of the Finns for further expansion in Karelia are restrained by the Entente troops landing in Murmansk in early March and Kaiser Wilhelm II, who feared the loss of power by the Bolsheviks as a result of the occupation of Petrograd by the Finns and sought to facilitate the exchange of the territory of the Vyborg province, reserved for Russia, to the Pechenga region with access to the Barents Sea , which was necessary for Germany to wage war in the North with England, whose troops began the intervention of Russian Pomerania.

In March 1918, Germany received the right to place its military bases in Finland, and on April 3, 1918, a well-armed German expeditionary force of 12 thousand (according to other sources, 9500) people landed in Gango, with the main task of taking the capital of red Finland. In total, the number of German soldiers in Finland under the command of General Rüdiger von der Goltz amounted to 20 thousand people (including garrisons on the Åland Islands).

On April 12-13, German troops took Helsinki, handing over the city to representatives of the Finnish Senate. Hyvinkä was taken on April 21, Riihimäki on April 22, and Hämenlinna on April 26. A brigade from Loviisa captured Lahti on April 19 and cut off communications between the western and eastern Red forces.

At the beginning of May 1918, the Finnish Socialist Workers' Republic ceased to exist, and the Republic of Finland came under the control of Kaiser Germany.

4.5. Transcaucasia Branch

White Guard adventurer, Baron Ungern von Sternberg R.F.. One of the few significant White Guards who openly supported the idea of ​​​​restoring the autocratic monarchy. At the beginning of 1917 (according to other sources - in October 1916), having arrived at a rally of the St. George Knights in Petrograd, he drunkenly beat the commandant's adjutant, for which he was sentenced to three years in a fortress (prison), but was released by the February Revolution. In August 1917, as a commissioner of the Provisional Government, he arrived together with the Cossack ataman G.M. Semenov in Transbaikalia with the aim of forming volunteer units from the indigenous non-Russian population. In 1920, at the head of the Asian Division, he left without permission for Mongolia, where in February 1921 he took Urga, and in fact became a Mongolian dictator, introducing the first Mongolian money into circulation ( see Mongolian dollar). He made a significant contribution to the restoration of Mongolia's independence from China. He was distinguished by his cruelty, which was fantastic even by the standards of the Civil War, in particular, he carried out massacres of Jews, Chinese and alleged communists. He was also distinguished by fanaticism on the verge of mental normality. He made plans to restore the empire of Genghis Khan and, according to some sources, converted to Buddhism. Ungern’s lawyer at the Soviet trial insisted on his insanity, and demanded that instead of execution, he be imprisoned in an “isolated casemate so that he would remember the horrors that he committed.” Before the execution, he broke his own St. George's Cross with his teeth and ate the fragments so that the communists would not get them.

In the first half of February, Turkish troops, taking advantage of the collapse of the Caucasian Front and violating the terms of the December truce, launched a large-scale offensive under the pretext of the need to protect the Muslim population of Eastern Turkey.

During February, Turkish troops advanced, occupying Trebizond and Erzurum by early March. Under these conditions, the Transcaucasian Sejm decided to begin peace negotiations with the Turks.

The peace negotiations, which took place from March 1 (14) to April 1 (14) in Trebizond, ended in failure. According to Art. IV Brest Peace Treaty with Soviet Russia and the Russian-Turkish additional treaty, the territories of Western Armenia, as well as the regions of Batum, Kars and Ardahan were transferred to Turkey. Türkiye demanded that the Transcaucasian delegation recognize the terms of the Brest-Litovsk Peace Treaty. The Diet interrupted negotiations and recalled the delegation from Trebizond, officially entering the war with Turkey. At the same time, representatives of the Azerbaijani faction in the Seimas openly stated that they would not participate in the creation of a common union of Transcaucasian peoples against Turkey, given their “special religious ties with Turkey.”

At the same time, as a result of the March events in Baku, the Bolsheviks came to power, proclaiming in the city Baku commune.

In April, the Ottoman army launched an offensive and occupied Batumi, but was stopped at Kars. On April 22, Türkiye and the Transcaucasian Seim agreed on a truce and the resumption of peace negotiations. Under pressure from Turkey, on April 22, 1918, the Seimas adopted a declaration of independence and the creation Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic. On May 11, negotiations resumed in the city of Batumi.

During the negotiations, the Turkish side demanded even greater concessions from Transcaucasia. In this situation, the Georgian side began secret bilateral negotiations with Germany on the transition of Georgia to the sphere of German interests. Germany agreed to the Georgian proposals, since Germany, back in April 1918, signed a secret agreement with Turkey on the division of spheres of influence in Transcaucasia, according to which Georgia was already in the sphere of influence of Germany. On May 25, German troops landed in Georgia. On May 26, independence was proclaimed Georgian Democratic Republic. Under these conditions, on the same day the Transcaucasian Seim announced its self-dissolution, and on May 28 they declared their independence Republic of Armenia And Azerbaijan Democratic Republic.

The conflict between the Bolsheviks and anti-Bolshevik forces in Transcaucasia is aggravated by mutual claims of the new states, which resulted in wars between Armenia and Azerbaijan, on the one hand, and Armenia and Georgia, on the other, and overlaps with the conflict between the German-Turkish and British invaders.

4.6. Belarus

In March 1918, the territory of Belarus was occupied by German troops. On March 25, 1918, representatives of several national movements under German occupation announced the creation of an independent Belarusian People's Republic. The territory of the BPR included the Mogilev province and parts of Minsk, Grodno (including Bialystok), Vilna, Vitebsk, and Smolensk provinces.

4.7. Moldova

In February 1918, Romanian troops, having captured the territory of Bessarabia, tried to cross the Dniester, but were defeated by Soviet troops on the Rezina-Sholdanesti line. At the beginning of March, the Soviet-Romanian protocol on eliminating the conflict was signed.

At a meeting on March 27, 1918, in conditions when the parliament building was surrounded by Romanian troops with machine guns, the Romanian military authorities were present at the voting itself. Sfatul Tarii voted in favor of unification with Romania.

Meanwhile, having lost the support of the Russian Empire and left alone with the Central Powers, Romania signed the separate Bucharest Peace Treaty on May 7, 1918. Having lost its rights to Bessarabia under the Treaty of Dobruja, Romania meanwhile achieved recognition by the Central Powers of its rights to Bessarabia.

4.8. Baltics

4.8.1. Estonia

On February 18, 1918, German troops launched an offensive in Estonia. On February 19, 1918, the Land Council, which emerged from underground, formed the Committee for the Salvation of Estonia, chaired by Konstantin Päts.

On February 24, the Executive Committee of the Councils of Estonia and the Revel Council of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies left the city of Revel, in which on the same day the Estonian Salvation Committee published the "Manifesto to all the peoples of Estonia", which declared Estonia an independent democratic republic, neutral in relation to the Russian-German conflict. On the same day, Konstantin Päts was elected head of the Estonian Provisional Government.

On February 25, 1918, German troops entered Revel, and by March 4, all Estonian lands were completely occupied by the Germans and included in Area of ​​the Supreme Command of all German armed forces in the East(Ober Ost). The German occupation authorities did not recognize the independence of Estonia and established a military occupation regime in the region, under which officers of the German army or Baltic Germans were appointed to key administrative positions.

Simultaneously with the occupation of Revel by the Germans, the Soviet Republic of sailors and builders on the island of Naissaar was liquidated - the sailors boarded ships of the Baltic Fleet and headed for Helsinki, and from there to Kronstadt.

4.8.2. Latvia

In February 1918, German troops occupied the entire territory of Latvia and liquidated the Iskolata Republic.

On March 8, 1918, in Mitau, the Courland Landesrat proclaimed the creation of an independent Duchy of Courland. On March 15, William II signed an act recognizing the Duchy of Courland as an independent state.

April 12 in Riga, at the united Landesrat of Livonia, Estonia, the city of Riga and about. Ezel was announced to be created Baltic Duchy, which included the Duchy of Courland, and on the establishment of a personal union of the Baltic Duchy with Prussia. It was assumed that Adolf Friedrich of Mecklenburg-Schwerin would become the formal head of the duchy, but like other German quasi-state entities, the Baltic states would join the federal German Empire.

4.8.3. Lithuania

On February 16, 1918, the Lithuanian Tariba adopted the “Act of Independence of Lithuania,” which, unlike the “December Declaration,” asserted the freedom of Lithuania from any allied obligations to Germany and the decision of the fate of the state was submitted to the Constituent Sejm. On February 21, the German Chancellor notified Tariba that the German state could not recognize the independence of Lithuania on principles other than those stated in the December declaration. On February 28, the Tariba Presidium announced that Tariba agreed to the recognition of independence in accordance with the principles of the declaration of December 24, 1917. On March 23, 1918, Emperor Wilhelm II recognized independence Lithuania.

4.9. Cossack regions

The offensive of German troops in Ukraine, their occupation of Rostov and Taganrog leads to the fall of the Don Soviet Republic (formally existed until September 1918) and the proclamation by Ataman Krasnov of an independent puppet pro-German Don Cossack Republic.

On February 22, 1918, under pressure from the superior forces of the Red Army, volunteers set out on the “Ice March” from Rostov-on-Don to the south. On March 31, 1918, General Kornilov died during the assault on Yekaterinodar. General Denikin becomes the new commander.

At the same time, relations between the Cossacks and the Volunteer Army remain complex; The Cossacks, although strongly anti-Bolshevik, showed little desire to fight outside their traditional lands. As Richard Pipes notes, “General Kornilov became in the habit of gathering Cossacks in the Don villages he was about to leave, and trying with patriotic speech - always unsuccessfully - to persuade them to follow him. His speeches invariably ended with the words: “You are all bastards.”

5. May - October 1918. Intervention of the Entente troops. Revolt of the Czechoslovak Corps

Japanese propaganda poster

In addition to the British troops who landed in Murmansk with the consent of Trotsky in early March (see above), on April 5, British and Japanese troops landed in Vladivostok to ensure the safety of military cargo delivered by the allies to Russia under military contracts for the Tsarist and Provisional governments and stored in Vladivostok , and to ensure the safety of Japanese citizens. However, two weeks later the troops returned to the ships.

5.1. Rise of the Czechoslovak Corps, Komuch, Siberia

One of the leaders of the Czechoslovak Legion, General Gaida

Formed back in 1916 from ethnic Czechoslovaks (both prisoners of war of Austria-Hungary and subjects of the Russian Empire), the Czechoslovak Corps, heading after the signing of the Brest-Litovsk Treaty to France through the Far East and stretching from Samara and Yekaterinburg to Vladivostok, in May 1918 raises an uprising in a number of cities along the railway.

In search of some political force on which they could rely, the Czechoslovaks turned to the Socialist Revolutionaries. On June 8 in Samara, thanks to them, the Socialist Revolutionary Party comes to power Komuch government, which took control of the Volga region and part of Siberia. At the same time, on June 23, power was taken in Omsk Provisional Siberian Government. On July 17 (4), 1918, the Siberian government adopted a declaration of independence of Siberia, proclaiming the creation Siberian Republic. The governments of Komuch and the Siberian Republic compete with each other.

On June 13, the communists form the Eastern Front of the Red Army under the command of the left Socialist Revolutionary M.A. Muravyov.

By September 1918, Komuch's situation became sharply complicated due to the advance of the Red Army. On September 23, 1918, Komuch was replaced by Ufa Directory, in which Kolchak receives the post of Minister of War. On November 3, the Provisional Siberian Government recognizes the power of the Ufa Directory and annuls the Declaration of Independence of Siberia.

On November 18, 1918, officers, disillusioned with the policy of the Directory, brought to power Admiral Kolchak, who accepted the title of Supreme Ruler of Russia and formed a Russian government.

5.2. Expansion of Entente intervention

On July 6, 1918, the Entente declared Vladivostok an “international zone,” and significant forces of Japanese and American military contingents landed. On August 2, the British expeditionary force landed in Arkhangelsk. Thus, the Entente gained control over all strategic seaports of Russia that were not blocked by the Central Powers - Murmansk, Arkhangelsk and Vladivostok. Soviet power in the north of Russia collapsed, the Socialist Revolutionary-Kadets formed Supreme Government of the Northern Region.

Also in July, a series of rebellions occurred: on July 6-7, the Left Socialist Revolutionary rebellion in Moscow, which almost led to the fall of the Bolshevik government, on July 6-21, the Right Socialist Revolutionary-White Guard rebellion in Yaroslavl, and also rebellions in Murom and Rybinsk. On July 10-11, the commander of the Eastern Front of the Red Army, the left Socialist-Revolutionary M. A. Muravyov, rebelled, and on July 18, Latvian I. I. Vatsetis was appointed commander instead.

5.3. Pro-German puppet regimes

In May - November 1918, the following states were under the control of the German Empire and declared independence on the territory of the Russian Empire [ source?] :

In addition, the following were actually under the control of Hermann's ally, the Ottoman Empire:

5.4. Transcaucasia

From May to October 1918, Georgia was occupied by German troops, and Armenia, under the Treaty of Peace and Friendship, was actually under the control of the Ottoman Empire.

There were two forces operating in Azerbaijan at that time - the west of the country was controlled by the forces of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic with its capital in Ganja, and Baku and the Caspian coast were controlled by the troops of the Baku Commune. On June 4, an agreement on peace and friendship was concluded between the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic and Turkey, according to which Turkey pledged to “ provide assistance with armed force to the government of the Republic of Azerbaijan, if necessary to ensure order and security in the country". The very next day, the Turkish army launched an attack on Baku. As a result of the successful actions of the Turkish troops, on July 31, the Baku commune resigned and transferred power in eastern Azerbaijan Dictatorship of the Centrocaspian, which immediately requested assistance in the defense of the city from the British. On August 17, British troops landed in Baku. Despite the help of the Entente, the Centro-Caspian Dictatorship failed to organize the defense of the city and on September 15, Turkish troops entered Baku. The dictatorship of the Centrocaspian region was eliminated.

6. The situation by November 1918

Territory that was de facto under the control of the Council of People's Commissars

The situation in which the central Bolshevik government in Moscow (Sovnarkom) found itself in mid-1918 is characterized by Soviet historiography as “The Soviet Republic in the Ring of Fronts” (“The Soviet Republic in the Fiery Ring of Fronts”). In fact, only the central provinces of the European part of Russia remain under the control of Moscow.

• as a result of the German offensive in the spring of 1918, the Bolsheviks lose control over the western national outskirts of the former Russian Empire;
• Don: Cossacks overthrow the Soviet governments, which relied on workers and “out-of-town” peasants, a large center of anti-Bolshevik resistance is formed;
• Ural and Siberia: Komuch governments in Samara, “Ufa Directory”, “Omsk Government”;
• Transbaikalia: area of ​​active actions of Ataman Semenov G.M.;
• Arkhangelsk and Murmansk: British-American intervention leads to the emergence of a government in the Northern Region.

7. The November Revolution in Germany and its consequences

On November 9-11, 1918, the November Revolution takes place in Germany, caused by the tension of Germany's forces in the war that reached the limit. Unlike the Entente powers with their huge colonial empires, Germany had extremely limited human and material resources. The entry of the United States into the war dramatically changed the balance of power; even taking into account Russia’s withdrawal from the war, it was not in favor of the Central Powers.

7.1. Collapse of pro-German puppet regimes

The defeat of Germany in the First World War led to the immediate collapse of a number of puppet regimes created by the German-Austrian occupiers in the former western national borderlands of the Russian Empire. Most of these regimes were of a near-monarchical nature, usually in the form of a regency.

7.2. Polish-Western Ukrainian conflict (November 1918 - January 1919)

Young Polish militiamen ( see Lviv eaglets) in Lvov, November-December 1918

Part of the territory of modern Ukraine before the First World War was part of Austria-Hungary, which collapsed in the war about a month before Germany ( see Collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire). The impending collapse led to intense rivalry between Western Ukrainians and Poles, who considered Lviv a Polish city.

Almost simultaneously, on November 3 and 6, Western Ukrainians and Poles proclaimed the independence of the Western Ukrainian People's Republic and Poland, and at the same time, a Polish uprising began in Lviv. With the support of Polish troops, the government of the Western Ukrainian People's Republic was driven out of Lvov on November 21. The Polish-Ukrainian War began.

The Western Ukrainian People's Republic also had to face the territorial claims of other states formed on the ruins of Austria-Hungary: on November 11, Romania occupied Bukovina, and Czechoslovakia occupied Uzhgorod on January 15.

On January 3, 1919, two Ukrainian states announced their unification, on January 22, the “Act of Zluki” (Act of the Unification of the UPR and WUNR) was signed; this day is celebrated in modern Ukraine as “Unified Day”.

7.3. Soviet offensive. November 1918 - February 1919

Advance of Soviet troops in 1918

Already on November 13, the Bolshevik government denounced the Brest-Litovsk Peace Treaty, and the entry of Red Army units into the former German occupation zone began. By February 1919, the Bolsheviks occupied parts of Ukraine, the Baltic states and Belarus. Their advance, starting in December 1918, collided with a new force - Poland, which put forward a project for restoring Polish great power “from sea to sea.”

7.4. Union intervention in Novorossiya and Transcaucasia, November 1918 - April 1919

State formations in the south of the former Russian Empire, 1919

On the eve of the end of the First World War, the Entente decided to “expand the Romanian Front to the east” and occupy part of the strategically important regions in the former Austro-German occupation zone in the south of Russia. French troops landed in Odessa and Crimea in November 1918, the British landed in Transcaucasia.

7.5. Reaction of the Czechoslovak Legion

The end of the First World War and the proclamation of independent Czechoslovakia on October 28, 1918 led to the fact that the Czechoslovak Legion in November-December 1918 finally lost all interest in events in Russia. In November-December, the Kolchak Government withdrew the Czechoslovaks from the front and henceforth used them only to guard the railways.

In 1919, the Czechoslovaks actually adhered to neutrality, refusing to actively act on Kolchak’s side, and continued to demand their evacuation from Russia. In June 1919, there was even a rebellion among Czechoslovakians caused by the delay in evacuation, however, this evacuation began only in December 1919, from Vladivostok, and stretched until September 2, 1920.

Notes

1. “Rulers of Russia from Yuri Dolgoruky to the present day” by E. V. Pchelova (p. 6)
2. Kyiv thought. March 5, 1917
3. Kyiv thought. April 8, 1917
4. Revolutionary movement in Russia in May-June 1917 // Documents and materials. M.. 1959. P. 451.
5. Revolution and the national question. M, 1930. T.Z.S. 149.
6. Revolution and the national question. P.59.
7. Constitutional acts of Ukraine. 1917-1920. Kiev, 1992. P.59.
8. Kyiv thought. June 27, 1917
9. A. A. Goldenweiser From Kyiv memories // Archive of the Russian Revolution, published by I. V. Gessen. T. 5-6: - Berlin, 1922. Reprint - M.: Publishing house "Terra" - Politizdat, 1991. - t. 6, Page. 180
10. Revolutionary movement in Russia. (August - September 1917) // Documents and material M., 1960. P.295-297.
11. Bulletin of the Provisional Government. 1917. August 5.
12. Kyiv thought. September 30, 1917.
13. 1 2 Revolution and the national question. P.66.
14. 1 2 Kyiv thought. October 20, 1917.
15. 1 2 Estonia: Encyclopedic reference book / Ch. scientific ed. A. Raukas. - Tallinn: Publishing House Est. encyclopedia, 2008.
16. Kyiv armed uprisings of 1917 and 1918 - www.cultinfo.ru/fulltext/1/001/008/060/967.htm.
17. Odessa - whp057.narod.ru/odess.htm
18. Revolution in Ukraine. According to the memoirs of whites. (Reprint edition) M-L.: State Publishing House, 1930. P. 91.
19. History of diplomacy, ed. acad. V. P. Potemkina. T. 2, Diplomacy in modern times (1872-1919). OGIZ, M. - L., 1945. Ch. 14, The exit of Russia and the imperialist war. Page 316-317.
20. Stati V. History of Moldova. - Chisinau: Tipografia Centrală, 2002. - P. 272-308. - 480 s. - ISBN 9975-9504-1-8
21. 1 2 3 4 5 6 To the people of Finland. (Declaration of Independence of Finland) Translation from English. - www.histdoc.net/history/ru/itsjul.htm
22. 1 2 Resolutions of the Council of People's Commissars and the All-Russian Central Executive Committee of the Councils of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies of the Russian Soviet Republic on the state independence of the Finnish Republic - www.histdoc.net/history/ru/itsen.html
23. The meeting was attended by representatives of all political parties, the Regional and Tiflis Soviets, the Special Transcaucasian Committee, the commander of the Caucasian Front, and the consuls of the Entente countries. The meeting refused to recognize the authority of the Council of People's Commissars of Soviet Russia. Representatives of the Bolshevik Party, who found themselves in the minority at the meeting, read out a declaration condemning the organizers of the meeting and left it.
24. ORS, vol. V, ch. II - militera.lib.ru/memo/russian/denikin_ai2/5_02.html
25. The text of Mannerheim's order is en.wikisource.org/wiki/fi: "Miekantuppipäiväkäsky" from 1918 in the Finnish Wikisource.
26. “Pskov province” No. 7(428) - gubernia.pskovregion.org/number_428/08.php
27. 1 2 Pokhlebkin V.V. - Foreign policy of Rus', Russia and the USSR for 1000 years in names, dates, facts: Vol. II. Wars and peace treaties. Book 3: Europe in the 1st half of the 20th century. Directory. M., 1999. P. 140. - www.aroundspb.ru/finnish/pohlebkin/war1917-22.php#_Toc532807822
28. Shirokorad A.B. Northern wars of Russia. Section VIII. Chapter 2. p. 518 - M.: ACT; Mn.: Harvest, 2001 - militera.lib.ru/h/shirokorad1/8_02.html
29. Project Chrono Ungern von Sternberg Roman Fedorovich - www.hrono.ru/biograf/ungern.html.
30. TSB Ungern von Sternberg Roman Fedorovich - slovari.yandex.ru/~books/TSE/Ungern von Sternberg Roman Fedorovich/.
31. Gavryuchenkov E. F. Ungern von Sternberg - www.litsovet.ru/index.php/material.read?material_id=224.
32. Alexander Malakhov. Chinese Baron - www.kommersant.ru/doc.aspx?DocsID=495890.
33. Marina Shabanova Red on white, or what Baron Ungern was tried for - vedomosti.sfo.ru/articles/?article=2187.
34. History of diplomacy, ed. acad. V. P. Potemkina. T. 2, Diplomacy in modern times (1872-1919). OGIZ, M. - L., 1945. Ch. 15, Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. Page 352-357.
35. Chronicle of the regional movement in Siberia (1852-1919) - oblastnichestvo.lib.tomsk.ru/page.php?id=80
36. Azerbaijan Democratic Republic (1918-1920). Foreign policy. (Documents and materials). - Baku, 1998, p. 16
37. Civil war and military intervention 1918-20 - dic.academic.ru/dic.nsf/bse/81054/- article from the Great Soviet Encyclopedia (3rd edition)
38. Tsvetkov V. Zh. White matter in Russia. 1919 (formation and evolution of the political structures of the White movement in Russia). - 1st. - Moscow: Posev, 2009. - P. 434. - 636 p. - 250 copies. - ISBN 978-5-85824-184-3

Literature

• Galin V.V. Intervention and civil war - militera.lib.ru/research/galin_vv03/index.html. - M.: Algorithm, 2004. - T. 3. - P. 105-160. - 608 p. - (Trends). - 1000 copies. ex. - ISBN 5-9265-0140-7

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This abstract is based on

On the question of who squandered the country in 1917.

In 1865, the area of ​​the Russian Empire reached its maximum - 24 million square kilometers. It was from this moment that the history of the reduction in the area of ​​the state began, the history of territorial losses. The first major loss was Alaska, which was sold in 1867. Further, the empire lost territories only during military conflicts, but in 1917, after February, it was faced with a new phenomenon - separatism.

The main impetus for the start of the first “Parade of Sovereignties” in the history of our country was the February Revolution of 1917, and not the Great October Revolution. The Soviets of Workers' and Peasants' Deputies, which came to power in October 1917, received from the Provisional Government "inheritance" the already fully spun up flywheel of the centrifugal collapse of the country. From that moment on, a long and painful process of collecting lands began, which after 5 years in 1922 united the main lands of the former empire in the USSR, and by 1946 the country had recovered as much as possible.

We will indicate the main stages of the collapse of the Russian Empire until October 1917 in order to understand which country fell to the Soviet government and whether it was realistic for the young Soviet Republic not to make temporary territorial concessions to the enemies who surrounded it on all sides, in order to subsequently restore most of what was actually lost on October 1917. To complete the picture, we will also indicate losses before 1917.

1. Russian California (Fort Ross). Sold in 1841 to the Mexican Sutter for 42 thousand rubles in silver. Only 8 thousand rubles were received from Sutter in the form of food supplies.

2. Alaska. Sold to USA in 1867. The treasury did not receive any money from the sale. Whether they were stolen, drowned or spent on steam locomotives is still an open question.

3. Southern Sakhalin, Kuril Islands. Transferred to Japan following the war of 1904-1905.

4. Poland. November 5, 1916, creation of the Kingdom of Poland, recognized by the Provisional Government on March 17, 1917.

5. Finland. March 2, 1917 - dissolution of the Personal Union with the Principality of Finland. In July 1917, the restoration of Finnish independence was announced. Final recognition of Finland's secession in November 1917.

6. Ukraine. March 4, 1917 – formation of the Ukrainian Central Rada; July 2, 1917, the Provisional Government recognizes Ukraine’s right to self-determination.

7. Belarus. July 1917, the Central Rada was formed in Belarus and the Declaration of Autonomy was drawn up.

8. Baltic states. February 1917, the Baltic states are completely occupied by German troops. Government bodies are being formed on the territory of Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia.

9. Bashkiria (Ufa province). July 1917, Bashkiria. The All-Bashkir Kurultai creates a government in Bashkiria, which is entrusted with formalizing the autonomy of the region.

10. Crimea. On March 25, 1917, the All-Crimean Muslim Congress was convened in Simferopol, in which 1,500 representatives of the Crimean population took part. At the congress, the Provisional Crimean-Muslim Executive Committee was elected, which received recognition from the Provisional Government as the only authorized and legitimate administrative body representing all Crimean Tatars.

11. Tatarstan (Kazan province). The 1st All-Russian Muslim Congress in early May 1917 in Moscow adopted a resolution on territorial autonomy and a federal structure.

12. Kuban and the North Caucasus. May 1917. Creation of territorial bodies of self-government within the framework of autonomy.

13. Siberia. The conference in Tomsk (August 2-9), 1917, adopted a resolution “On the autonomous structure of Siberia” within the framework of a federation with self-determination of regions and nationalities. On October 8, 1917, the First Siberian Government was created, headed by Potanin, and autonomy was declared.

From September 21 to September 28, 1917, on the initiative of the Ukrainian Central Rada, the Congress of the Peoples of Russia, represented mainly by separatist movements, was held in Kyiv. At the congress, issues of future forms of division of Russian territory were discussed.

Collapse of the Russian Empire. Formation and strengthening of the party apparatus

In March 1917, the Russian Empire collapsed, unable to withstand the economic and military hardships of the First World War. At that moment, chaos and confusion reigned, the temporary government could not do anything about the state of affairs in the country, various political forces over the next few years tore the country apart. At this same grateful time, the leaders of the RSDLP party, its Bolshevik wing, emerged from a long period of underground exile and emigration. In April, Lenin returned to Petrograd, pronounced his famous “April Theses,” and surrounded himself with Zinoviev, Kamenev, and Trotsky. Stalin is a little relegated to the background for now. He fully supports Lenin's practical policy of strengthening Bolshevik power locally - at that time these were local Soviets. Stalin continued to work with party organizations and edited Pravda. He won the respect and trust of ordinary party members and at the seventh conference he became third after Lenin and Zinoviev. At the same conference, Stalin made a report on the national question. At the same time, the Provisional Government accused the Bolsheviks of trying to destroy the revolution and cause anarchy in the country. The Justice Department released documents alleging that Lenin and other Bolshevik leaders were German agents. But again Stalin came to Lenin’s aid. Under the protection of Stalin and Alliluyev, Lenin was transported to a more reliable place, to Sestroretsk.

Stalin protects Zinoviev and Kamenev from expulsion from the ranks of the party, which Lenin insisted on when they, in a state of panic, expressed their disagreement with the armed uprising in the press. Stalin did this not out of reconciliation with them, but because he believed that the exclusion of two famous figures could cause a split in the party.

On October 24, 1917, the uprising began. By evening everything was finished. There was a lightning-fast, almost bloodless capture of Petrograd. The fact that Lenin and Stalin were in the shadows during the uprising was not blamed on them. Perhaps this was a tactical move so that if they were defeated they could continue the fight. However, the uprising was victorious. Lenin arrived in Smolny. Stalin also arrived there. And these two people, responsible for the fate of Russia, began to learn to understand the true essence of power.

No one at that time saw Stalin as the future head of Soviet Russia. Everyone notes his modesty, ability to behave with dignity, concern for the party and the successes of the revolution. No desire for power.

The next stage in Stalin's life began, in which he would establish himself as a statesman. Stalin took a direct part in all the main events of that time. He supported Lenin at the conclusion of a peace treaty with Germany. He was a member of the commission for the preparation and development of the draft of the first Constitution, adopted in July 1918, and took part in the creation of the Soviet republics.

Ian Gray correctly noted that Lenin really needed Stalin. Even Stalin's office was next to Lenin's. For most of the day, Stalin worked together with Lenin. In the government, Stalin was Commissioner for Nationalities. He took his work very seriously and did a lot for the formation of the USSR. At the same time, he becomes a witness and participant in many discussions and disputes initiated by Trotsky, Bukharin, Zinoviev and other “educated” members of the government. The first thing that really struck him was Trotsky’s behavior at the conclusion of a peace treaty with Germany in Brest-Litovsk. Then he simply tore them down, and Germany launched an offensive on a broad front; Trotsky provoked debate at a government meeting. Having missed an advantageous moment, Soviet Russia was forced to accept tougher peace terms. Trotsky, not wanting to understand the complexity of the situation, voted against it and put forward the slogan - “No peace, no war!” But Bukharin insisted on continuing the holy revolutionary war to the last man.

They brought both the party and the country to the brink of split. To save the revolution, the Central Executive Committee voted to accept German peace terms. Stalin remembered for a long time the irresponsibility of two revolutionary leaders.

Architects of communism. Artist Evgeny Kibrik

Before they had time to survive this shock, the country found itself embroiled in a civil war. Stalin took an active part in food procurement, and in the fight against corruption and sabotage in Tsaritsyn, and in organizing its defense. Despite all the difficulties, disagreements with Trotsky and his own mistakes, he managed to defend Tsaritsyn. In November 1918, Stalin was appointed chairman of the Military Council of the Ukrainian Front. Liberates Kharkov, then Minsk. Together with Dzerzhinsky, he quickly and decisively eliminates the critical situation near Perm. In the summer of 1919, he organized resistance to the Polish offensive. With the support of Stalin, the First Cavalry Army was created, led by Voroshilov and Shchadenko, which became legendary. Trotsky's prestige during the war, especially towards the end, was shaken, and Lenin began to rely more on Stalin, who was the complete opposite of Trotsky. He rarely spoke to the troops, and if he did, it was in simple, intelligible words. A realist, he always correctly assessed people and the situation. He was calm and confident. He demanded that orders be carried out, although he himself sometimes did not obey them. But he understood very well that the figure of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, who enjoys unlimited power, is very important for achieving victory. And he will never forget this lesson. On November 27, Trotsky and Stalin were awarded the Order of the Red Banner. Lenin equally and worthily appreciated their merits.

The experience of the civil war had a great influence on Stalin. First, it allowed him to get to know himself and his abilities. For the first time in his life, he took on such responsibility and coped with it. He realized that the party's ideas must be implemented, regardless of human sacrifice. He saw thousands of people die so that the party could live.

The old communist R.B. Lert wrote: “Revolution was necessary in a country like Russia, and this revolution could not do without violence. It was impossible to win the civil war without mass terror, without violence against officers, against kulaks... A truly deadly struggle broke out, and if the communists had not won, the whites would have slaughtered them all. But we, as a revolutionary party, made a mistake when we presented revolutionary violence not as a sad inevitability, but as a feat. Mass violence, terror, even “red” terror, still remain evil. Even if this evil is temporarily necessary, it is still evil, and yet it soon began to be presented as good. We began to think and say that everything that is useful and necessary for the revolution is good, it is moral. But this approach to assessing events is incorrect in principle. The revolution brought with it not only good, but also evil. It was impossible to avoid violence in the revolution, but it was necessary to understand that we are talking about the temporary admission of evil into our lives and into our practice. By romanticizing violence, we extended its life, we preserved it even when it had become completely unnecessary, became an absolute evil... Non-resistance to evil through violence is not our philosophy; in many cases it can only help the triumph of evil. But, using very drastic means, we should not have changed the moral assessment of these acts of violence.”

Chairman of the Central Election Commission M.I. Kalinin wrote: “... the war and civil struggle created a huge cadre of people whose only law is the expedient disposal of power. To manage for them means to manage completely independently, without being subject to the regulating articles of the law.”

Victory in the civil war came at a terrible price. Russia lost 27 million of its citizens - both “white” and “red”, but the bulk of those who died - civilians - from hunger and disease. The country was in ruins, the impoverished economy was completely destroyed, the people were hungry. The peasants were dissatisfied with the confiscation of surplus food, and discontent also grew among the workers. Lenin and his commissars faced the question of restoring the national economy. Disputes began about ways to build socialism in Russia. None of these theorists knew how, what methods to build it. Lenin initially adopted the system of War Communism. Trotsky fanatically defended this system. He dreamed of ruling a completely militarized society. At his urgent request, the 3rd Army was renamed the First Revolutionary Army of Labor.

During this period, Stalin actively supported Lenin. While many party members strongly protested against a return to capitalism when Lenin announced the New Economic Policy, Stalin vigorously defended the NEP. Stalin masterfully managed the apparatus; Lenin was not very good at dealing with administrative issues. Trotsky saw himself as an orator, a theorist, but not an administrator. Zinoviev, Kamenev, Bukharin considered it beneath their dignity to occupy the apparatus. They considered Stalin to be “gray mediocrity,” so they entrusted him with what they thought was a completely mediocre job. But they did not take into account that he treated all orders responsibly, so he thought carefully about how the apparatus should develop and function in order to maintain the absolute power of the center. Lenin's declaration that the party was the guiding and directing force in Soviet society required the creation of a strong and effective command and control mechanism. Stalin understood how administrative and organizational issues are inseparable and important for party unity.

From this moment on, the creation of a new administration similar to the imperial bureaucracy begins. The key role in the creation of an extensive party apparatus belongs to Stalin. He alone of all the leaders had the experience, knowledge and patience for this type of work. In addition, it was the understanding of the role of competent placement of personnel in key positions in all party structures that played a decisive role in strengthening Stalin’s power. At the 10th Party Congress, Stalin made a report “The Party’s Immediate Tasks in the National Question.”

He called for a fight against great-power Great Russian chauvinism, as the main danger, and for a fight against local nationalism.

Thanks to this speech, he was able to strengthen his influence among communists with moderate centrist views on the national question, both in the Russian party leadership and in the outlying organizations of the country. This contributed to the acquisition of additional allies in the party ranks. The congress delegates recognized that Stalin not only understood the national question, but was also capable of developing and justifying a theoretical basis. This played a significant role in the expansion of his power, which happened relatively quickly.

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Pre-revolutionary Russia was a multinational state, therefore the most important issue of the Second Russian Revolution was the national question - the question of relations between the Russian people and other peoples of Russia. Most of them did not have autonomy at the beginning of the twentieth century, and therefore demanded equal rights with the Russians and the right to autonomy within Russia, which had been turned into a federal state. Only the Poles and Finns sought to secede from it and create their own independent states. After the October Revolution, the demands of non-Russian peoples became more radical. Frightened by the anarchy in the Russian provinces and the cruelty of the Bolshevik regime, they began to secede from Russia and create their own national states. This process was accelerated by German and Turkish intervention in 1918, when Germany and Turkey set a course for creating small states on the outskirts of Russia, dependent on the Quadruple Alliance.

Even before the revolution, the creation of such a state began in Poland. The “independent” Polish state created by the Germans and Austrians (proclaimed in November 1916) and its government, the Provisional State Council (created in January 1917) were under the complete control of the occupiers. In Finland, independence was proclaimed on December 6, 1917. On November 7, 1917, after the suppression of the Bolshevik putsch in Kiev, the Ukrainian People's Republic (UNR) was proclaimed, formally an autonomous republic within Russia, in fact a sovereign state. But on December 11, 1917 in Kharkov, at the All-Ukrainian Congress of Soviets, the Soviet “People's Ukrainian Republic” was proclaimed. On January 1, 1919, the “temporary Workers’ and Peasants’ Government of the Belarusian Soviet Independent Republic” was created in Minsk and Soviet power was proclaimed, and on February 4, the First Belarusian Congress of Soviets adopted the Constitution of the BSSR. In Lithuania, on November 28, 1917, the “independent State of Lithuania” was proclaimed. The situation in the Baltic states was more complex. After Germany's defeat in World War I, the situation in this region changed again. As a result of the offensive of the Red Army, three Soviet republics were created here - the Estonian Labor Commune (November 29, 1918), the Lithuanian Soviet Republic (December 16, 1918) and the Soviet Socialist Republic of Latvia (December 17, 1917), immediately recognized by the RSFSR. In Transcaucasia, the first step towards separating this region from Russia was taken on November 15, 1917. On November 27, 1920, the Reds crossed the border into Armenia, and on November 29 it was proclaimed a “Soviet Socialist Republic.” On February 25, Tiflis was captured and the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic was proclaimed. Thus, in 1917 - 1918. The Russian Empire collapsed, and a number of new nationalist states arose from its ruins, but only five of them (Poland, Finland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia) managed to maintain their independence. The rest were defeated by the Red Army and fell under Bolshevik rule.

The development of Soviet national statehood during the years of the revolution and the Civil War proceeded in two directions:

1. Creation of autonomous national state units (republics, regions, states, etc.) within the RSFSR. The first such entity, the Ural-Volga State, was created in February 1918 by decision of the Kazan Council and included Tatar and Bashkir lands. In March 1918, this “state” was reorganized into the Tatar-Bashkir Soviet Republic, but it was soon divided into two new republics. In April 1918, the Turkestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was proclaimed, in October 1918 - the Labor Commune of the Volga Germans, in June 1920 - the Chuvash Autonomous Region, in November 1920 - the Votyak (Udmurt), Mari and Kalmyk Autonomous Regions, in January 1921 - Dagestan and Mountain Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republics. As a result, by 1922 the RSFSR included 10 autonomous republics (ASSR) and 11 autonomous regions (AO). 2.Creation of “independent” Soviet republics (in fact, they were completely dependent on Moscow). The first such republic, the "People's Ukrainian Republic", was proclaimed in December 1917, and by 1922 there were nine such republics - the RSFSR, the Ukrainian SSR, the Byelorussian SSR, the Azerbaijan SSR, the Armenian SSR, the Georgian SSR, the Khorezm People's Soviet Republic , Bukhara People's Soviet Republic and Far Eastern Republic (FER). The three Soviet republics in the Baltic states, created in November-December 1918, were already destroyed by May 1919 by local nationalists with the help of the English fleet, German volunteers, Russian White Guards and the Polish army.

She had a huge influence on the development of the national liberation struggle in Finland, the Baltic states, Ukraine, Belarus, Transcaucasia, Central Asia, and Kazakhstan.

Democratic changes contributed to the growth of self-awareness. Attempts to revive a “united and indivisible” Russia distracted from the peoples who fought for their independence.

Ukraine

In Ukraine the situation was difficult. Along with the bodies of the Provisional Government and the councils of workers and soldiers, the Central Rada arose, which was created by the Ukrainian National Democratic Forces.

Central Rada At first she tried to get rid of imperial dependence and raised the question of the national-territorial autonomy of Ukraine in the democratic Russian Federative Republic. This policy of the Central Council displeased the Provisional Government. Relations between Ukraine and Russia have worsened.

The Central Rada came to the conclusion that it was necessary to fight for the national and social liberation of Ukraine and the creation of its own conciliar independent state.

Belarus

A National Congress was convened in Belarus in March 1917, which spoke out for the autonomy of Belarus in a democratic federal Russia.

This position of the Belarusian national forces was voiced at the Congress of the Peoples of Russia, which took place in September 1917 in Kyiv. Representatives of Belarus entered the Council of Peoples, which advocated that Russia become an equal federation.

Transcaucasia

In Transcaucasia, the Transcaucasian Commissariat was created - a government that pursued a policy of separating Transcaucasia from Russia. On April 22, 1918, the Transcaucasian Sejm proclaimed an independent Transcaucasian Federative Republic, but it lasted only a month due to contradictions of a national-religious nature.

In May 1918 The Georgian, Armenian and Azerbaijani democratic republics were proclaimed. In Georgia, the Social Democratic Menshevik Party came to power. In Azerbaijan, power was seized by the nationalist Musavat (equality) party, which tried to create an independent Azerbaijani state.

A revolutionary party came to power in Armenia, advocating the creation of a national state and the struggle against Turkey. During the period from 1915 to 1918, almost 2 million people died in the fight against the Turks. However, a few weeks later the Armenian and Azerbaijani republics were occupied by Turkish troops. Georgia still retained its independence with the help of Germany. Turkey, Germany, and the Entente countries constantly intervened in the affairs of Georgia, offering their assistance.

Finland

After the February events of 1917, Finland fought for its independence in Petrograd. The Finnish Sejm demanded autonomy.

In March 1917, the government temporarily issued an act restoring the Constitution of the Grand Duchy of Finland, and the issue of autonomy was postponed until the convening of the Constituent Assembly.

Baltics

In the Baltics, after the February events in Russia, National Councils were formed, first raising the issue of autonomy, and then independence.

After the Bolsheviks came to power, Soviet power was established twice in Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. However, relying on the help of Western countries, primarily England, the Baltic peoples defended their independence.

Tatars and Bashkirs

After the February events in Russia, National Councils were created and autonomous governments of the Tatars and Bashkirs were proclaimed.

At the beginning of 1918, the Bolsheviks dissolved the Tatar and Bashkir National Councils, arrested the leaders of the Tatars and Bashkirs and established Soviet power.

middle Asia

The situation in Central Asia was more complex than in the center. The backward, illiterate peasant population was under the influence of local feudal lords and the Muslim clergy. Various groups acted under national and religious slogans. The center of revolutionary events was Tashkent.

In November 1917, a regional congress of councils was convened, at which the Council of People's Commissars of the Turkestan region was created.