- Kuban People's Republic
Infobox Former Country
native_name = Кубанская Народная Республика
Кубанська Народна Республiка
conventional_long_name = Kuban People's Republic
common_name = Kuban
continent = Europe
region = Russia
country = Russia
year_start = 1918
year_end = 1920
event_start = Proclaimed
date_start = January 28
event_end = Evicted and dissolved.
date_end = March 17
event1 = Independencesmallsup|1
date_event1 =February 16 ,1918
event_pre = Rada formed
date_pre = March 1917
p1 = Russian Empire
flag_p1 = Flag of Russia.svg
s1 = Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic
flag_s1 = Flag RSFSR 1918.svg
image_map_caption = The Kuban People's Republic (green, withinRussia ) on the map of Europe during 1919.
national_anthem = Ты Кубань, ты наша Родинаspaces|2(Russian) "Ty Kubáń, ty násha Ródina"spaces|2(transliteration ) "You're Kuban, you're our Motherland" [cite web |url=http://admkrai.kuban.ru/kazachestvo/history/4220.html|title=History of the formation and rise of the Kuban Cossacks - Kuban Cossacks in the years of Soviet rule (civil war, years of repression, and emigration)|accessdate=2008-04-05|last=Ratushnyak|first=O.V.|work=Administration of Krasnodar Krai|language=Russian]
capital = Yekaterinodar
latd=45 |latm=02 |latNS=N |longd=38 |longm=58 |longEW=E
common_languages = Russian, Ukrainian
government_type = Republic
legislature = Kuban Legislative Rada
title_leader = Chairman
leader1 = Luka Bych
year_leader1 = 1917-1918, 1919
leader2 = Nikolai Ryabovol
year_leader2 = 1918-1919
leader3 = F. Sushkov
year_leader3 = 1919-1920
title_deputy =Ataman
deputy1 = Alexander Filimonov
year_deputy1 = 1917-1919
deputy2 = Nikolai Uspensky
year_deputy2 = 1919
deputy3 = Nikolai Bukretov
year_deputy3 = 1920
stat_year1 = 1918 [cite book|title=One Europe, Many Nations: A Historical Dictionary of European National|last=Minahan|first=James|year=2000|publisher=Greenwood Press |isbn=0313309841]
stat_pop1 = 3500000
stat_area =
population_density =
currency = Ruble
footnotes = smallsup|1 Independence proclaimed by theKuban Rada .The Kuban People's Republic ( _ru. Кубанская Народная Республика; _uk. Кубанська Народна Республiка) was an anti-
Bolshevik state that comprised the territory of theKuban of the modern-day Russian Federation during theRussian Civil War .The republic was proclaimed by the
Kuban Rada onJanuary 28 ,1918 and declared its independence onFebruary 16 . The Kuban People's Republic would include all territory of the formerKuban Oblast of theRussian Empire .History
Background
During the
Russian Empire , the region of the Kuban was a Cossack territory. Like many similar provinces, its demographics constituted several differences from ordinary Russian governorates ("guberniyas"). The western regions belonged to the descendants of theBlack Sea Cossack Host from Ukraine in 1792. The southern and eastern regions were made from theCaucasus Line Cossack Host , descendants of theDon Cossacks .Historically, the Kuban Cossacks were formed to guard the Russian borders from the Mountain peoples which caused the
Caucasus War that lasted for six decades up until 1860. In addition, during many wars, Cossacks sent large army contingents to fight alongside theImperial Russian Army ; moreover it was the Kuban Cossacks that made the Tsar's personal bodyguard. In return for such loyalty, they lived free fromtax es in a semi-independent way with various privileges. The military nature of their lifestyle was also mirrored in the administration of the region, wherestanitsa settlements were in place of traditional Russian villages, and had much moreautonomy such as the election of a localAtaman , or commander.However, during the reforms of
Tsar Alexander II, the pacifiedKuban Oblast was heavily invested in and extensive peasant migrants from Russian,Armenia n and Ukrainian provinces migrated to cultivate the land. The question of land ownership caused extensive friction between the peasants and the Cossacks, and often resulted in the latter's action to ensure its ownership.February Revolution
After the
February Revolution inPetrograd , the inefficientRussian Provisional Government decided to prolong its involvement in the increasingly unpopular First World War. As a result, the Russian Army began to collapse. The Kuban Cossack units deserted the front lines and returned home to protect their homelands from a threatened Turkish invasion from the South.During the Russian Empire, the Kuban was directly administered by an appointed Ataman ("Nakaznoy Ataman") directly by the Tsar, usually a skilled non-Cossack general. With the sovereign's abdication, the Kuban governing council, the
Kuban Rada ("parliament") in March 1917 proclaimed itself as the sole administration body with intentions to create a military government that would retain control of the Kuban, and onJune 17 of that year proclaimed the Kuban People's Republic within the new DemocraticRussian Republic .Independent Kuban National Republic
After the
October Revolution , the people of the Kuban found themselves divided among several groups. The large non-Cossack peasants were influenced by the Bolsheviks and aKuban Soviet Republic , which later dispersed the Rada. OnFebruary 16 ,1918 , theKuban Rada proclaimed the independence of the Kuban People's Republic from Russia.In March 1918, after
Lavr Kornilov 's successful offensive, the Kuban Rada was re-established and placed itself under his authority. The Cossacks, formerly loyal to the Russian Empire, supported theWhite movement . Yet after the early successes of theVolunteer Army , which rid the Kuban of the Bolsheviks, the front lines moved north into the Don territory.This affected the importance of the Rada and in June 1918, friction began to grow between the head of the leadership and the Cossacks. In particular, the main focal point was between the "Chernomortsy" and the "Lineitsy". The former, disappointed with ineffective attempts of different authorities, pursued a policy of attaining full independence for the Kuban. However, the latter continued to believe in a re-created Russian state.
Russian Civil War
Already discontent with the past struggles over land, the idea of a future Cossack state was unsuitable to many.
Anton Ivanovich Denikin grew increasingly dissatisfied with an increasingly isolated Rada. The final sparks came when the Rada first turned towardsUkraine to enter afederal union withHetman Pavlo Skoropadsky , and after its downfall, entered into a similar union with theDemocratic Republic of Georgia , whilst its foreign envoys in France proclaimed independence from Russia. Some Cossacks left the government, and others defected to theRed Army .In December 1918, the Rada sent a delegation headed by First Chairman Luka Bych to the 1919 Paris Peace Conference. By April the delegation put forward its requests for international help for the Kuban as an independent state to be defended from Bolshevism and announced its break from Denikin and further refusal for further cooperation in the
White Movement . None of this was satisfied by theTriple Entente . The Kuban People's Republic was, however, "de jure " recognized by theUkrainian People's Republic ,German Empire ,Ottoman Empire ,Democratic Republic of Georgia , and theMountainous Republic of the Northern Caucasus .Denikin, learning of this "back-stabbing" on
November 6 ,1919 , ordered for the Rada building to be surrounded, and with the help of the Ataman Alexander Filimonov arrested ten of its members, including its premier P. Kurgansky, who was publicly hanged fortreason . Most Cossacks joined Denikin and fought in the ranks of the Volunteer Army. In December 1919, after Denikin's defeat, it became clear that the Bolsheviks would overrun the Kuban, and some of the separatist-minded groups attempted to restore the Rada and to break away from the Volunteer Army and to fight the Bolsheviks in alliance with other independence striving governments such as theUkrainian People's Republic and theDemocratic Republic of Georgia .cite book|author=Kubijovyč, Volodymyr|authorlink=Volodymyr Kubiyovych|title=Ukraine: A Concise Encyclopedia|location=Toronto |publisher=University of Toronto Press |year=1963|pages=pgs. 790-793] However, by early 1920 theRed Army took most of the Kuban, and both the Rada and Denikin were evicted.Legacy
Both Soviet and later contemporary Russian historians viewed the decision of the Kuban People's Republic to break with the
White Movement as a deceitful "back-stabbing" step at a critical moment during theRussian Civil War . The act is perceived as one of the important contributions to the ultimateBolshevik victory.Some Ukrainian historians argue that the Kuban People's Republic was an attempt by the
Kuban Cossacks to unite with Ukraine, citing the shifting alliances of the Rada. The last premier of the RepublicVasil Ivanis argued that hadPavlo Skoropadsky acted more decisively, and sent a UNR division led by General Natiev to the Kuban, Ukraine would have become the main nexus of the Anti-Bolshevik movement. With aid of the Central Powers, Ivanis states that they could have easily re-claimed all of Russia, given thatAleksandr Kolchak would have acted in the same time frame in the east.ee also
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Kuban Cossacks
*Kuban Soviet Republic
*Kuban-Black Sea Soviet Republic References
Footnotes
Literature
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