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Description

The 1917 Russian Civil War was probably one of the most memorable events in the country’s history. Although common people around the world were shocked to hear the news about the bloody conflict, political analysts believed that this was a war years in the making. Broad dissatisfaction with the incompetent rule of Tsar Nicolas II had weakened the prestige of the Russian monarchy, and combined with an economic and social crisis, it formed the perfect conditions for a Revolution to take place.
This chance came during the Great War. Russia entered the war on its beginning in the side of the Entente, fighting against the Central Powers. The continuous failures of the Imperial Army, the collapsing Russian economy and the increasingly more authoritarian leadership of the Tsar led to the February Revolution of 1917. The revolution was instigated by the Progressive Bloc, a pro-republican alliance inside the Imperial Duma that demanded democratic reforms. The Revolution concluded with the resignation of Tsar Nicholas II, ending 300 years of Romanov rule over Russia.
After the revolution, a Provisional Government was set up under the presidency of Alexander Kerensky. On September 14th 1917 the monarchy was officially abolished and Kerensky declared the creation of the Russian Republic. The newborn state soon found itself divided between Kerensky’s government and the Petrograd Soviet, a council of workers and farmers that was controlled by the communist Bolshevik Party, with both entities having influence over the Russian people. Although the provisional government tried to fix the mistakes of the past, they ultimately failed.Kerensky’s decision to continue fighting in the Great War, despite the people’s call for peace, was the final nail in the coffin of his government. In August 27th 1917, General Lavr Kornilov executed a coup against the Provisional Government. The so-called Kornilov Affair was ultimately a failure, but it led to the collapse of the Kerensky administration. The Soviets then took control over Petrograd and declared the creation of the Russian Soviet Federative Republic, which later became a part of the Soviet Union.
Soon after that, Russia collapsed into chaos and anarchy, as a civil war started. The opponents of the Bolshevik regime (calling themselves the White Army) fought against the communists, forming the Provisional All-Russian Government in September of 1918, under the control of the Committee of members of the Constituent Assembly. Just two months later in November, Admiral Alexander Kolchak instigated a coup d’etat with British support and took control of the government, expelling a lot of its members and declaring himself Supreme Leader of All-Russia. Kolchak’s regime fought against the Reds as well as the Siberian National Independence Administration of Pyotr Vologodsky. On December 1918, Kolchak and Vologodsky made peace with each other and united their forces against the Bolsheviks.
Despite this alliance, it was well-known that Kolchak considered the Siberian Provisional government nothing more than an illegal administration that occupied rightful Russian lands, and prepared for the day he would overthrow Vologodsky and take power for himself. This day came quicker than he thought. On March 24th 1929, Kolchak and his men marched into the building of the Siberian parliament and arrested many MP’s, including Pyotr Derber, Chairman of the Parliament. Unfortunately Kolchak’s men didn’t arrest Vologodsky since he wasn’t in Parliament at the time. When he learned of the coup, Vologodsky led two divisions of the Siberian National Army in front of the parliament building, and after a short fight, he arrested Kolchak and his associates. In the trial that followed, the Admiral and his men were charged with treason. People demanded their execution, but Vologodsky intervened and persuaded the judges to exile them instead.
Admiral Kolchak and his associates were exiled in the island of Sakhalin, in the far east of the Republic. Several more White Army officers and sympathizers were send there in the months that followed. On the same time, the Siberian Republic was still fighting against the USSR. Back in Sakhalin, Kolchak had settled in the town of Vladimirovka along with many other White Army officers and sympathizers. The generally relaxed way of imprisonment the Admiral and his colleagues were going through (since the Siberian government believed that If Kolchak was treated harshly it could give their administration a bad reputation) allowed them to discuss many times the possibility of reuniting and conquering Russia under their rule.
In June of 1920, Kolchak announced the reformation of what he now called the National All-Russian Government, a provisional administration that claimed all the territory of the former Russian monarchy, with himself as Chairman. Seeing this development, a lot of Siberian politicians urged President Vologodsky to execute the Admiral. Again, he refused, but he talked with members of both his party and the opposition in order to see how they were going to face this new problem. They decided that due to Kolchak’s popularity, executing him would be pointless and dangerous. So, they decided to go the other way around: allow Kolchak to have some power himself, in order to calm him down. After countless talks between the government, the Parliament and Kolchak, the legislature passed the Sakhalin Special Autonomy Act in August 1920.
This law reformed the island of Sakhalin into a Special Autonomous Territory, with much more autonomy than other subdivisions of the Republic. Kolchak was declared the Governor of Sakhalin and took over the governance of the island. Officially, the SSAT was another part of the Siberian Republic, just more autonomous than other ones. In reality, Kolchak had managed to form basically a semi-independent state with himself in charge. After the passing of the law, he was declared Governor of Sakhalin, although he still used the title Supreme Leader of All-Russia. According to the law, the Governor of Sakhalin and the Regional Council were elected every 4 years. In practice, Kolchak held absolute power as head of the National All-Russian Government.
Although the Sakhalin Special Autonomous Territory was supposedly just another province of Siberia, in practice it acted as a state within a state, with its own laws and rules. The Vladivostok government ignored this in order to appease Kolchak and the Whites. Kolchak ruled Sakhalin as an authoritarian dictator, operating a police state. The Admiral and his closest associates were the ones making all decisions, while the Regional Council was just a rubber-stamp body with no real influence. Governor Kolchak imposed his dictatorial rule through the Sakhalin Defense Guard, a paramilitary organization that terrorized the Sakhalinites and acted both as a police and a secret service.
Unlike other subdivisions of the Republic, Sakhalin had the right to have its own autonomous military units. The Sakhalin Autonomous Military Command included at least 400 soldiers, almost all of them members of the White forces that answered directly to Kolchak and were responsible for the defense of the island. The Siberian Republic didn’t consider that a threat, since the Siberian Armed Forces were double the size of Kolchak’s military and could subdue Sakhalin with relative ease, in case of any rebellion.
Admiral Kolchak continued ruling Sakhalin with an iron fist for almost a decade. By the late 1930’s, the Admiral had become a fragile old man, and some of his critics even said that he was suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. As Kolchak’s health deteriorated, a lot of voices in the Siberian Republic started to call for the dissolution of his regime, while on the same time, several of the Admiral’s own associates secretly planned what their next moves would be after his death. The Veterans’ Party, Kolchak’s puppets in the Siberian Parliament, fought hard against any ideas of dissolution of the Admiral’s government. The truth is, that with Kolchak being so close to death, the future of his administration is dim and unclear. Only God knows how it is going to end….

Description

The 1917 Russian Civil War was probably one of the most memorable events in the country’s history. Although common people around the world were shocked to hear the news about the bloody conflict, political analysts believed that this was a war years in the making. Broad dissatisfaction with the incompetent rule of Tsar Nicolas II had weakened the prestige of the Russian monarchy, and combined with an economic and social crisis, it formed the perfect conditions for a Revolution to take place.
This chance came during the Great War. Russia entered the war on its beginning in the side of the Entente, fighting against the Central Powers. The continuous failures of the Imperial Army, the collapsing Russian economy and the increasingly more authoritarian leadership of the Tsar led to the February Revolution of 1917. The revolution was instigated by the Progressive Bloc, a pro-republican alliance inside the Imperial Duma that demanded democratic reforms. The Revolution concluded with the resignation of Tsar Nicholas II, ending 300 years of Romanov rule over Russia.
After the revolution, a Provisional Government was set up under the presidency of Alexander Kerensky. On September 14th 1917 the monarchy was officially abolished and Kerensky declared the creation of the Russian Republic. The newborn state soon found itself divided between Kerensky’s government and the Petrograd Soviet, a council of workers and farmers that was controlled by the communist Bolshevik Party, with both entities having influence over the Russian people. Although the provisional government tried to fix the mistakes of the past, they ultimately failed.Kerensky’s decision to continue fighting in the Great War, despite the people’s call for peace, was the final nail in the coffin of his government. In August 27th 1917, General Lavr Kornilov executed a coup against the Provisional Government. The so-called Kornilov Affair was ultimately a failure, but it led to the collapse of the Kerensky administration. The Soviets then took control over Petrograd and declared the creation of the Russian Soviet Federative Republic, which later became a part of the Soviet Union.
Soon after that, Russia collapsed into chaos and anarchy, as a civil war started. The opponents of the Bolshevik regime (calling themselves the White Army) fought against the communists, forming the Provisional All-Russian Government in September of 1918, under the control of the Committee of members of the Constituent Assembly. Just two months later in November, Admiral Alexander Kolchak instigated a coup d’etat with British support and took control of the government, expelling a lot of its members and declaring himself Supreme Leader of All-Russia. Kolchak’s regime fought against the Reds as well as the Siberian National Independence Administration of Pyotr Vologodsky. On December 1918, Kolchak and Vologodsky made peace with each other and united their forces against the Bolsheviks.
Despite this alliance, it was well-known that Kolchak considered the Siberian Provisional government nothing more than an illegal administration that occupied rightful Russian lands, and prepared for the day he would overthrow Vologodsky and take power for himself. This day came quicker than he thought. On March 24th 1929, Kolchak and his men marched into the building of the Siberian parliament and arrested many MP’s, including Pyotr Derber, Chairman of the Parliament. Unfortunately Kolchak’s men didn’t arrest Vologodsky since he wasn’t in Parliament at the time. When he learned of the coup, Vologodsky led two divisions of the Siberian National Army in front of the parliament building, and after a short fight, he arrested Kolchak and his associates. In the trial that followed, the Admiral and his men were charged with treason. People demanded their execution, but Vologodsky intervened and persuaded the judges to exile them instead.
Admiral Kolchak and his associates were exiled in the island of Sakhalin, in the far east of the Republic. Several more White Army officers and sympathizers were send there in the months that followed. On the same time, the Siberian Republic was still fighting against the USSR. Back in Sakhalin, Kolchak had settled in the town of Vladimirovka along with many other White Army officers and sympathizers. The generally relaxed way of imprisonment the Admiral and his colleagues were going through (since the Siberian government believed that If Kolchak was treated harshly it could give their administration a bad reputation) allowed them to discuss many times the possibility of reuniting and conquering Russia under their rule.
In June of 1920, Kolchak announced the reformation of what he now called the National All-Russian Government, a provisional administration that claimed all the territory of the former Russian monarchy, with himself as Chairman. Seeing this development, a lot of Siberian politicians urged President Vologodsky to execute the Admiral. Again, he refused, but he talked with members of both his party and the opposition in order to see how they were going to face this new problem. They decided that due to Kolchak’s popularity, executing him would be pointless and dangerous. So, they decided to go the other way around: allow Kolchak to have some power himself, in order to calm him down. After countless talks between the government, the Parliament and Kolchak, the legislature passed the Sakhalin Special Autonomy Act in August 1920.
This law reformed the island of Sakhalin into a Special Autonomous Territory, with much more autonomy than other subdivisions of the Republic. Kolchak was declared the Governor of Sakhalin and took over the governance of the island. Officially, the SSAT was another part of the Siberian Republic, just more autonomous than other ones. In reality, Kolchak had managed to form basically a semi-independent state with himself in charge. After the passing of the law, he was declared Governor of Sakhalin, although he still used the title Supreme Leader of All-Russia. According to the law, the Governor of Sakhalin and the Regional Council were elected every 4 years. In practice, Kolchak held absolute power as head of the National All-Russian Government.
Although the Sakhalin Special Autonomous Territory was supposedly just another province of Siberia, in practice it acted as a state within a state, with its own laws and rules. The Vladivostok government ignored this in order to appease Kolchak and the Whites. Kolchak ruled Sakhalin as an authoritarian dictator, operating a police state. The Admiral and his closest associates were the ones making all decisions, while the Regional Council was just a rubber-stamp body with no real influence. Governor Kolchak imposed his dictatorial rule through the Sakhalin Defense Guard, a paramilitary organization that terrorized the Sakhalinites and acted both as a police and a secret service.
Unlike other subdivisions of the Republic, Sakhalin had the right to have its own autonomous military units. The Sakhalin Autonomous Military Command included at least 400 soldiers, almost all of them members of the White forces that answered directly to Kolchak and were responsible for the defense of the island. The Siberian Republic didn’t consider that a threat, since the Siberian Armed Forces were double the size of Kolchak’s military and could subdue Sakhalin with relative ease, in case of any rebellion.
Admiral Kolchak continued ruling Sakhalin with an iron fist for almost a decade. By the late 1930’s, the Admiral had become a fragile old man, and some of his critics even said that he was suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. As Kolchak’s health deteriorated, a lot of voices in the Siberian Republic started to call for the dissolution of his regime, while on the same time, several of the Admiral’s own associates secretly planned what their next moves would be after his death. The Veterans’ Party, Kolchak’s puppets in the Siberian Parliament, fought hard against any ideas of dissolution of the Admiral’s government. The truth is, that with Kolchak being so close to death, the future of his administration is dim and unclear. Only God knows how it is going to end….