__NOTOC__
The Don Republic (russian: Донская Республика, later known as the Almighty Don Host, or russian: Всевеликое Войско Донское, ''Vsevelikoye Voysko Donskoye'') was an independent self-proclaimed anti-
Bolshevik
The Bolsheviks (russian: Большевики́, from большинство́ ''bol'shinstvó'', 'majority'),; derived from ''bol'shinstvó'' (большинство́), "majority", literally meaning "one of the majority". also known in English ...
republic formed by the
Armed Forces of South Russia
The Armed Forces of South Russia (AFSR or SRAF) () were the unified military forces of the White movement in southern Russia between 1919 and 1920.
On 8 January 1919, the Armed Forces of South Russia were formed, incorporating the Volunteer Army ...
on the territory of
Don Cossacks
Don Cossacks (russian: Донские казаки, Donskie kazaki) or Donians (russian: донцы, dontsy) are Cossacks who settled along the middle and lower Don. Historically, they lived within the former Don Cossack Host (russian: До ...
against another self-proclaimed
Don Soviet Republic. The Don Republic existed during the
Russian Civil War
, date = October Revolution, 7 November 1917 – Yakut revolt, 16 June 1923{{Efn, The main phase ended on 25 October 1922. Revolt against the Bolsheviks continued Basmachi movement, in Central Asia and Tungus Republic, the Far East th ...
after the collapse of the
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...
from 1918 to 1920.
["]
In April 1918, after the liberation of
Novocherkassk
Novocherkassk (russian: Новочерка́сск, lit. ''New Cherkassk'') is a city in Rostov Oblast, Russia, located near the confluence of the Tuzlov and Aksay Rivers, the latter a distributary of the Don River. Novocherkassk is best known as t ...
from control of the
Don Soviet Republic, a Don Provisional Government was formed under G. P. Ianov. On 11 May, the "krug for the Salvation of the Don" opened, which organized the anti-Bolshevik war. On 16 May,
Krasnov Krasnov (russian: Краснов) is a Russian family name, derived from the word ''krasota'', a diminutive for ''krasa'', "beauty". Its feminine counterpart is Krasnova. It may refer to:
* Aleksandr Krasnov (born 1960), Russian cyclist
* Aleksand ...
was elected
Ataman
Ataman (variants: ''otaman'', ''wataman'', ''vataman''; Russian: атаман, uk, отаман) was a title of Cossack and haidamak leaders of various kinds. In the Russian Empire, the term was the official title of the supreme military comman ...
. On 17 May, Krasnov presented his "Basic Laws of The All Great Don ''voisko''." Its 50 points included the inviolability of private property and abolished all laws promulgated since the abdication of
Nicholas II
Nicholas II or Nikolai II Alexandrovich Romanov; spelled in pre-revolutionary script. ( 186817 July 1918), known in the Russian Orthodox Church as Saint Nicholas the Passion-Bearer,. was the last Emperor of Russia, King of Congress Pola ...
. Krasnov also encouraged nationalism. According to
Peter Kenez
Peter Kenez (born as Péter Kenéz in 1937) is a historian specializing in Russian and Eastern European history and politics.
Life
Peter Kenez was born and grew up in Pesterzsébet, Budapest, Kingdom of Hungary . His father was arrested in March ...
, "This new preoccupation with the glories of the past allowed the Cossacks to regard the struggle against their enemies as a war of national liberation, not merely one for defending their private interests against their fellow citizens."
The Don Republic claimed the territory of the
Don region with the city of
Novocherkassk
Novocherkassk (russian: Новочерка́сск, lit. ''New Cherkassk'') is a city in Rostov Oblast, Russia, located near the confluence of the Tuzlov and Aksay Rivers, the latter a distributary of the Don River. Novocherkassk is best known as t ...
as its capital. Administratively, the Don Republic was divided into ten
okrug
An ''okrug, ; russian: о́круг, ókrug; sr, округ, okrug, ; uk, о́круг, о́kruh; be, акруга, akruha; pl, okręg; ab, оқрҿс; mhr, йырвел, '' is a type of administrative division in some Slavic states. The ...
s, covering an area located in the
Rostov
Rostov ( rus, Росто́в, p=rɐˈstof) is a town in Yaroslavl Oblast, Russia, one of the oldest in the country and a tourist center of the Golden Ring. It is located on the shores of Lake Nero, northeast of Moscow. Population:
While t ...
and
Volgograd Oblast
Volgograd Oblast (russian: Волгогра́дская о́бласть, ''Volgogradskaya oblast'') is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject (an oblast) of Russia, located in the Volga region, Volga region of Southern Russia. Its adminis ...
s of
RSFSR
The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Russian SFSR or RSFSR ( rus, Российская Советская Федеративная Социалистическая Республика, Rossíyskaya Sovétskaya Federatívnaya Soci ...
and in the
Lugansk
Luhansk (, ; uk, Луганськ, ), also known as Lugansk (, ; russian: Луганск, ), is a city in what is internationally recognised as Ukraine, although it is administered by Russia as capital of the Luhansk People's Republic (LPR). A ...
and
Donetsk Oblast
The Donetsk Oblast ( ukr, Донецька область, Donetska oblast, ), also referred to as Donechchyna ( ukr, Донеччина, links=no), is an oblast of eastern Ukraine. It is Ukraine's most populous province, with around 4.1 mill ...
s of the neighboring
Donetsk–Krivoy Rog Soviet Republic
The Donetsk–Krivoy Rog Soviet Republic or Donetsk–Kryvyi Rih Soviet Republic (russian: Донецко-Криворожская советская республика , translit = Donetsko-Krivorozhskaya sovyetskaya respublika, ) was a se ...
.
According to
Peter Kenez
Peter Kenez (born as Péter Kenéz in 1937) is a historian specializing in Russian and Eastern European history and politics.
Life
Peter Kenez was born and grew up in Pesterzsébet, Budapest, Kingdom of Hungary . His father was arrested in March ...
, "Krasnov named Semenov, one of the army officers, 'governor' of Voronezh province (the part that had been liberated) and Colonel Manakin 'governor' of Saratov province."
[
The Don Republic ceased to exist after the Don Cossacks, who formed an essential part of the ]White Army
The White Army (russian: Белая армия, Belaya armiya) or White Guard (russian: Бѣлая гвардія/Белая гвардия, Belaya gvardiya, label=none), also referred to as the Whites or White Guardsmen (russian: Бѣлогв ...
, were defeated by the Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...
in the Russian Civil War
, date = October Revolution, 7 November 1917 – Yakut revolt, 16 June 1923{{Efn, The main phase ended on 25 October 1922. Revolt against the Bolsheviks continued Basmachi movement, in Central Asia and Tungus Republic, the Far East th ...
. Many of the Russian Cossacks on Don were subjected to the Decossackization
De-Cossackization (Russian: Расказачивание, ''Raskazachivaniye'') was the Bolshevik policy of systematic repressions against Cossacks of the Russian Empire, especially of the Don and the Kuban, between 1919 and 1933 aimed at the el ...
in 1919–1921, during the Soviet famine of 1932–33
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
and because of the repatriation of Cossacks after the Second World War by the United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
to the Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
, resulting in the eventual disappearance of the Don Cossacks' movement of resistance to the Soviet Union.
Gallery
1918-DonGeography.jpg
Всевелико Войско Донское.jpg, Medal of the Great Don Army: Defender of the Free Don.
See also
* Don Army
The Don Army (russian: Донская армия, ) was the military of the short lived Don Republic and a part of the White movement in the Russian Civil War. It operated from 1918 to 1920, in the Don region and centered in the town of Novocher ...
* Don Host Oblast
The Province (Oblast) of the Don Cossack Host (, ''Oblast’ Voyska Donskogo'') of Imperial Russia was the official name of the territory of Don Cossacks, coinciding approximately with the present-day Rostov Oblast of Russia. Its site of admini ...
* South Russia (1919–1920)
South Russia or South of Russia (russian: Юг Росси́и, ''Yug Rossii'') was a short-lived military quasi-state that existed in Eastern Europe during the Southern Front of the Russian Civil War from 1919 to 1920.
South Russia was esta ...
* Armed Forces of South Russia
The Armed Forces of South Russia (AFSR or SRAF) () were the unified military forces of the White movement in southern Russia between 1919 and 1920.
On 8 January 1919, the Armed Forces of South Russia were formed, incorporating the Volunteer Army ...
* Kuban People's Republic
The Kuban People's Republic (KPR), or Kuban National Republic (KNR), (russian: Кубанская Народная Республика, Kubanskaya Narodnaya Respublika; uk, Кубанська Народна Республiка, Kubanska Narodn ...
, a government formed by the Kuban Cossacks
Kuban Cossacks (russian: кубанские казаки, ''kubanskiye kаzaki''; uk, кубанські козаки, ''kubanski kozaky''), or Kubanians (russian: кубанцы, ; uk, кубанці, ), are Cossacks who live in the Kuban re ...
in 1918
* Ukrainian People's Republic
The Ukrainian People's Republic (UPR), or Ukrainian National Republic (UNR), was a country in Eastern Europe that existed between 1917 and 1920. It was declared following the February Revolution in Russia by the First Universal. In March 1 ...
* Post-Russian Empire states
References
External links
Footages of Don Republic (1918)
{{coord, 47.4167, N, 40.1, E, source:kolossus-ukwiki, display=title
History of the Don Cossacks
Former republics
Former Slavic countries
Post–Russian Empire states
White movement
States and territories established in 1918
States and territories disestablished in 1920
Former countries of the interwar period