Russian State (1918–1920)
The Russian State[b] was a White Army anti-Bolshevik state proclaimed by the Act of the Ufa State Conference of September 23, 1918 (the Constitution of the Provisional All-Russian Government), “On the formation of the all-Russian supreme power” in the name of “restoring state unity and independence of Russia” affected by the revolutionary events of 1917, the October Revolution and the signing of the treaty of Brest-Litovsk with Germany.[2][3][4][5]
"Russian State" redirects here. For the currently existing country, see Russia. For administrative subdivisions of Russia, see Subdivisions of Russia.
Russian StateРоссійское Государство
Rossiyskoye Gosudarstvo
Rossiyskoye Gosudarstvo
Confederated provisional parliamentary republic
- Under a military dictatorship
(after Nov. 18, 1918)
Provisional All-Russian Government
(1918)
Russian Government
(1918–1920)
23 September 1918
18 November 1918
7 February 1920
Centralization of management[edit]
On October 9, 1918, the Provisional All-Russian Government moved from Ufa to Omsk in connection with the approach of the Red Army to Ufa.
On November 4, the Provisional All-Russian Government appealed to all regional governments with a request to immediately dissolve “all without exception Regional Governments and Regional Representative Institutions” and to transfer all powers to manage the All-Russian Government. On the same day, on the basis of the ministries and central administrations of the Provisional Siberian Government, the executive body of the Directory was formed - the All-Russian Council of Ministers, headed by Pyotr Vologdsky. Such centralization of state power was due to the need, first of all, to “recreate the combat power of the motherland, so necessary in the struggle for the revival of Great and United Russia”, “to create the conditions necessary for supplying the army and organizing the rear on an All-Russia scale”.
Thanks to this, it was possible to achieve the abolition of all regional, national and Cossack governments in the east of Russia and thereby consolidate the forces of anti-Bolshevik resistance.
The November 18 coup[edit]
On November 18, 1918, the members of the Directory who were in Omsk were arrested, the Council of Ministers announced the assumption of full supreme power and then decided to transfer it to one person, conferring on him the title of Supreme Leader.[6] Admiral Alexander Kolchak was elected by secret ballot to members of the Council of Ministers for this post. The admiral accepted the offer and announced the assumption of the rank of Supreme Commander. A new Russian government was formed, which went down in history as Omsk government, or the Kolchak government, which existed until January 4, 1920.
All commanders of the White armies in the south and west of Russia as well as in Siberia and the Far East recognized the supreme ruler of Admiral Kolchak; at the turn of May — June 1919, the generals Anton Denikin, Yevgeny Miller, Nikolai Yudenich voluntarily submitted to Alexander Kolchak and officially recognized his Supreme Command over all armies in Russia. The Supreme Commander at the same time confirmed the powers of commanders. By order of the supreme leader Miller and Yudenich received the status of governor-general.[7]
From this point on, the Armed Forces of South Russia, the Northwestern Army, the Northern Army and the Eastern Front acted on the fronts of this united army.
The name “Russian Army” was approved as the unification of all the white fronts, the status of the front commanders formally from the commander-in-chief was given to the commanders of the Northern and North-Western armies generals Yudenich and Miller.
Alexander Kolchak continued the economic and political course of the Provisional Siberian Government,[8] the former head of which - Pyotr Vologodsky, who became for the supreme ruler a symbol of the legitimacy of his rule, was left as chairman of the Council of Ministers. In the very first statements after the “November 18 coup”, both the Russian government, the supreme leader himself, and the white rulers and governments of other Russian regions that recognized his authority confirmed the need to convene a National Constituent Assembly, which was to become a truly unifying center, without any participation "Revolutionary radicals". For this, a new electoral law was developed.
State symbols[edit]
Anthem[edit]
On November 19, 1918, the Council of Ministers adopted a resolution at the suggestion of the Minister of Foreign Affairs Yury Klyuchnikov to consider the oldest spiritual anthem of the Russian Empire, How Glorious Is Our Lord in Zion, to be the national anthem of Russia. The rules of the anthem repeated the order of the hymn God Save the Tsar!.[1]
Economics and finance[edit]
Alexander Kolchak had Russia's gold reserves in the form of gold coins and ingots, as well as jewelry, platinum, silver and securities, captured by the People's Army of the Committee of Members of the Constituent Assembly in Kazan in August 1918 and later transported to Omsk. Gold reserves were estimated at 650 million rubles in gold at the pre-war rate. The government of Kolchak spent 240 million gold rubles for the payment of the tsar's debts and for the supply of the allies. It was impossible to do without these supplies, because in an atmosphere of economic chaos during the Civil War, industrial enterprises reduced production several times.[7]
International legal recognition[edit]
The Russian state was recognized by the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (future Yugoslavia). On May 19, 1919, Prime Minister of the Kingdom Stoyan Protić issued an official note that he informed the All-Russian Government that the Kingdom recognized him as the legitimate Russian authority.[11] Russia also recognized this Kingdom. In Omsk, Jovan Milanković was appointed attorney in charge of the Kingdom, and the interests of the Provisional All-Russian Government in Belgrade were represented in 1919 by Vasily Shtrandtman.[12]