Provisional Government of Autonomous Siberia - June 1918

The Provisional Siberian Government was a short-lived government in

Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part of ...

created by the White movement in 1918.

History

At the beginning of 1918, a Provisional Siberian Government (PSG) was established in the eastern coastal city of

Vladivostok Vladivostok ( rus, Владивосто́к, a=Владивосток.ogg, p=vɫədʲɪvɐˈstok) is the largest city and the administrative center of Primorsky Krai, Russia. The city is located around the Zolotoy Rog, Golden Horn Bay on the Sea ...

. Most of the members of this first Siberian provisional government were members of the

Socialist-Revolutionary Party The Socialist Revolutionary Party, or the Party of Socialist-Revolutionaries (the SRs, , or Esers, russian: эсеры, translit=esery, label=none; russian: Партия социалистов-революционеров, ), was a major politi ...

(PSR), including the head of this government, Pyotr Derber. On 1 June 1918, the West Siberian Commissariat was announced following the

Revolt of the Czechoslovak Legion The revolt of the Czechoslovak Legion comprised the armed actions of the Czechoslovak Legion in the Russian Civil War against Bolshevik authorities, beginning in May 1918 and persisting through evacuation of the Legion from Siberia to Europe in 19 ...

. According to

William Henry Chamberlin William Henry Chamberlin (February 17, 1897 – September 12, 1969) was an American historian and journalist. He was the author of several books about the Cold War, communism, and foreign policy, including ''The Russian Revolution 1917-1921'' (19 ...

, "...the initiative in setting up a new government was taken by three men, Markhov, Mikhailov and Lindberg, who described themselves as representatives of the Siberian Government and members of the

All-Russian Constituent Assembly The All Russian Constituent Assembly (Всероссийское Учредительное собрание, Vserossiyskoye Uchreditelnoye sobraniye) was a constituent assembly convened in Russia after the October Revolution of 1917. It met fo ...

, and by the head of the

Tomsk Tomsk ( rus, Томск, p=tomsk, sty, Түң-тора) is a city and the administrative center of Tomsk Oblast in Russia, located on the Tom River. Population: Founded in 1604, Tomsk is one of the oldest cities in Siberia. The city is a not ...

Zemstvo A ''zemstvo'' ( rus, земство, p=ˈzʲɛmstvə, plural ''zemstva'' – rus, земства) was an institution of local government set up during the great emancipation reform of 1861 carried out in Imperial Russia by Emperor Alexande ...

, Sidorov." On 30 June a new government took place through the efforts of the more conservative groups and army officers. According to Chamberlin, "The first sign of a swing to the right was the replacement of the Commissariat, which had been guided in its activities by the programme of the Socialist Revolutionary Party, by a group of Ministers of the Derber Government, headed by

Pyotr Vologodsky Pyotr Vasilievich Vologodsky (January 18, 1863 – November 19, 1925, russian: Пётр Васи́льевич Волого́дский) was a Russian statesman, public figure, and mason. He was the first chairman of the Council of Ministers of t ...

, a jurist with the reputation of a moderate liberal." Autonomous Siberia's flag was green and white to symbolize the snows and forests. On 4 July, this Siberian government declared itself as the sole Siberian authority. The Derber government in Vladivostok refused to recognize the legitimacy of this new government based in

Omsk Omsk (; rus, Омск, p=omsk) is the administrative center and largest city of Omsk Oblast, Russia. It is situated in southwestern Siberia, and has a population of over 1.1 million. Omsk is the third largest city in Siberia after Novosibirsk ...

. A reorganization of the

government followed, with the name Provisional Government of Autonomous Siberia (PGAS) adopted. The PGAS in Vladivostok and new PSG in Omsk refused to recognize the other, and each claimed for themselves the mantle as the sole government of Siberia. The generals of the

Siberian Army The Siberian Army (russian: Сибирская армия, Sibirskaya Armiya) was an anti-Bolshevik army during the Russian Civil War, which fought from June 1918 – July 1919 in Siberia – Ural Region. Background After the Bolsheviks' sei ...

placed their allegiance with the Vologodskii government in Omsk, however, leading to the marginalization of the Vladivostok regime. In September 1918, after the

State Meeting in Ufa The State Conference in Ufa (also known as the Ufa State Conference, the Ufa Conference) which took place on September 8–23, 1918, in the city of Ufa in Soutern Russia (now the capital city of the Republic of Bashkortostan, Russia) was the most ...

, the Provisional Siberian Government (Omsk) was transitioned into a new government, the

Ufa Directory The Provisional All-Russian Government (PA-RG), informally known as The Directory, The Ufa Directory, or The Omsk Directory, was a short-lived government during the Russian Civil War, formed on 23 September 1918 at the State Conference in Ufa as ...

, or Provisional All-Russian Government. Chamberlin states, "Vologodsky went to Eastern Siberia and obtained the abdication of the phantom Derber Cabinet in Vladivostok." In November 1918, a coup took place in

and installed Alexander Kolchak as the Supreme Ruler of Russia. Kolchak

Sources

Additional Reading

* "Гражданская война в России: катастрофа Белого движения в Сибири" ("Civil War in Russia: Catastrophe of White Movement in Siberia") - Moscow, "AST" Publishing House, 2005. Siberian Government (Omsk) Siberian Government (Omsk) Provisional governments of the Russian Civil War States and territories established in 1918 1918 disestablishments in Asia History of Siberia {{russia-hist-stub