HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Siberian regionalism (russian: Сибирское областничество, lit= Siberian
oblast An oblast (; ; Cyrillic (in most languages, including Russian and Ukrainian): , Bulgarian: ) is a type of administrative division of Belarus, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Ukraine, as well as the Soviet Union and the Kingdom of ...
movement, translit= Sibirskoye oblastnichestvo) is a political movement that advocates for the formation of an
autonomous In developmental psychology and moral, political, and bioethical philosophy, autonomy, from , ''autonomos'', from αὐτο- ''auto-'' "self" and νόμος ''nomos'', "law", hence when combined understood to mean "one who gives oneself one's ow ...
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 ...
n state. The idea originated in the mid-19th century and reached a high tide with the White movement military activities of
Aleksandr Kolchak Alexander Vasilyevich Kolchak (russian: link=no, Александр Васильевич Колчак; – 7 February 1920) was an Imperial Russian admiral, military leader and polar explorer who served in the Imperial Russian Navy and fought ...
(1874–1920) and
Viktor Pepelyayev Viktor Nikolayevich Pepelyayev (8 January 1885 - 7 February 1920) was a Russian politician, a supporter of Admiral Alexander Kolchak, and the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the State of Russia. Biography Born on January 8, 1885, in Nar ...
(1885–1920) 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 ...
of 1917–1922.


Foundations


Regionalism and Autonomy

Siberian regionalism, according to Susan Smith-Peter, is the first political regionalist movement in a European country. Following the activities of
Afanasy Shchapov Afanasiy Prokopievich Shchapov (''Афанасий Прокофьевич Щапов'' in Russian) (May 10(17).1830 – February 27(10.3).1876) was a Russian historian accused of " Siberian nationalism" and persecuted by tsarist authorities. ...
(1830-1876) in Siberia, a movement advocating a far-ranging autonomy for the region took shape under the name of "regionalism" (''oblastnichestvo''). In the 19th century Siberian students in
Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
: Grigory Potanin (1835-1920),
Nikolay Yadrintsev Nikolai Mikhailovich Yadrintsev (russian: Николай Михайлович Ядринцев; October 18, 1842, Omsk – June 7, 1894, Barnaul) was a Siberian public figure, explorer, archaeologist, and turkologist. His discoveries include t ...
(1842-1894) and people with other backgrounds founded the movement.


Independence

Some radical members in 1863 presumably prepared a revolt in Siberia together with exiled Poles and
Ukrainians Ukrainians ( uk, Українці, Ukraintsi, ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine. They are the seventh-largest nation in Europe. The native language of the Ukrainians is Ukrainian language, Ukrainian. The majority ...
, trying to achieve independence and to begin the development of a Siberian state, similar to the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
. Tsarist authorities arrested and imprisoned forty-four members of the group in May 1865, after watch-officers of the Siberian
Cadet Corps A corps of cadets, also called cadet corps, was originally a kind of military school for boys. Initially such schools admitted only sons of the nobility or gentry, but in time many of the schools were opened also to members of other social classes. ...
searched cadet Arseny Samsonov, aged 16, for illicit items and found a proclamation entitled "To Patriots of Siberia", attributed to a collective authorship of
Grigory Potanin Grigory Nikolayevich Potanin (alt. Grigorij Potanin) (russian: Григорий Николаевич Потанин; 4 October 1835 – 6 June 1920) was a Russian ethnographer and natural historian. He was an explorer of Inner Asia, and was the ...
,
Nikolay Yadrintsev Nikolai Mikhailovich Yadrintsev (russian: Николай Михайлович Ядринцев; October 18, 1842, Omsk – June 7, 1894, Barnaul) was a Siberian public figure, explorer, archaeologist, and turkologist. His discoveries include t ...
, (1841-1882), et al. The Russian revolutionary
Mikhail Bakunin Mikhail Alexandrovich Bakunin (; 1814–1876) was a Russian revolutionary anarchist, socialist and founder of collectivist anarchism. He is considered among the most influential figures of anarchism and a major founder of the revolutionary ...
(1814-1876) supported the idea of an autonomous Siberia in the hope it would become a democratic state, prosperous within a union with United States and leading to the collapse of
Imperial Russia The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the List of Russian monarchs, 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 th ...
.Mark Bassin "Imperial Visions: Nationalist Imagination and Geographical Expansion in the Russian Far East, 1840–1865 Local thinkers and settlers saw Siberia as means of escape from the oppression of the Russian Empire, and as the seed of a possible free and democratic country that would spread freedom across Asia. In the end of the 19th and at beginning of the 20th century, Siberian regionalists led by Potanin and Yadrintsev formed a legal opposition to
Russian colonialism Russian imperialism includes the policy and ideology of power exerted by Russia, as well as its antecedent states, over other countries and external territories. This includes the conquests of the Russian Empire, the imperial actions of the Soviet ...
in Siberia; they wrote many books and articles, and organized research into Siberian cultures, economics, ethnicities, races, etc. Yadrintsev's greatest book, ''Siberia as a colony'' (Сибирь как колония), envisaged the future of Siberia as domination of the
white race White is a racialized classification of people and a skin color specifier, generally used for people of European origin, although the definition can vary depending on context, nationality, and point of view. Description of populations as " ...
and a European way of development, similar to the U.S., claiming that the
Siberians The Siberians, or Siberiaks, (russian: сибиряки, sibiryaki, ) are the majority inhabitants of Siberia, as well as the (sub)ethnic or ethnographic group of the Russians. As demonym The demonym ''Siberian'' can be restricted to either t ...
already had many differences from their Russian and East-Slavic ancestors — especially cultural differences such as love of freedom and private initiative.


Provisional Government of Autonomous Siberia

After the
February Revolution The February Revolution ( rus, Февра́льская револю́ция, r=Fevral'skaya revolyutsiya, p=fʲɪvˈralʲskəjə rʲɪvɐˈlʲutsɨjə), known in Soviet historiography as the February Bourgeois Democratic Revolution and somet ...
, the development of ''oblastnichestvo'' gained momentum, as on May 21, 1917, when the Oblastniks convened their first general meeting in
Irkutsk Irkutsk ( ; rus, Иркутск, p=ɪrˈkutsk; Buryat language, Buryat and mn, Эрхүү, ''Erhüü'', ) is the largest city and administrative center of Irkutsk Oblast, Russia. With a population of 617,473 as of the 2010 Census, Irkutsk is ...
, where they heard and discussed the report delivered by I.I. Serebrennikov "On the autonomy of Siberia". In August, the Oblastniks convened the Conference of Public Organizations based on the decision of
Tomsk Provincial People's Assembly 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 n ...
as of May 18, 1917. On August 5, 1917, the Conference approved "The Regulations for the Autonomy of Siberia" and heard the report by P.A. Kazantsev "On the Siberian National Banner", which it also unanimously approved:
The National Siberian Banner shall be a combination of two colours: white and green. White colour means Siberian snow, whilst green colour – Siberian
taiga Taiga (; rus, тайга́, p=tɐjˈɡa; relates to Mongolic and Turkic languages), generally referred to in North America as a boreal forest or snow forest, is a biome characterized by coniferous forests consisting mostly of pines, spruce ...
. The banner shall be rectangular, split into two parts diagonally from the left top to right bottom. thus, the upper triangle shall be of green colour, and the lower one – of white colour.
On January 28, 1918, the Siberian Regional Duma was convened in Tomsk in secret, fearing suppression by the
Bolsheviks 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 ...
, who occupied the city. The members elected the members of the
Provisional Government of Autonomous Siberia The Provisional Siberian Government (later the Provisional Government of Autonomous Siberia), was an ephemeral government for Siberia created by the White movement. History Background The seizure of power by the Bolshevik Party in Petrograd i ...
from four political factions: # The Socialist-Revolutionary Party delegated: #* P.Ya. Derber to be the Chairman of the Government, #* Colonel A.A. Krakovetsky to take the Ministry of Defence, #* A.Ye. Novosyolov – Minister of Internal Affairs, #* N.Ye. Zhernakov – State Controller, #* Ye.V. Zakharov, S.A. Kudryavtsev and M.B. Shatilov to be ministers with no charge. # The Oblastniks delegated: #* P.V. Vologodsky to become the Minister of Foreign Affairs, #* V.M. Krutovsky – Minister of Public Health, #* G.B. Patushinsky – Minister of Justice, #* I.I. Serebrennikov – Minister of Supply and Food, #* I.A. Mikhailov – Minister of Finance, #* L.A. Ustrugov – Minister of Railways. # The ethnic minorities delegated: #* V.T. Tiber-Petrov to take the position of the Minister of Native Affairs, #* D.G. Sulima – Minister of Exterritorial Peoples, #* E.D. Rinchino – Minister of Public Education, #* G.S. Neometullov to be a minister with no charge. #
Mensheviks The Mensheviks (russian: меньшевики́, from меньшинство 'minority') were one of the three dominant factions in the Russian socialist movement, the others being the Bolsheviks and Socialist Revolutionaries. The factions eme ...
delegated: #* M.A. Kolobov to become the Minister of Trade and Industry #* I.S. Yudin to become the Minister of Labour. Only a handful of them agreed to take part in the Government. Fairly soon, most of the ministers had to flee to the Far East and stayed there until July, when they went to Vladivostok after it was liberated from
the Bolsheviks The Bolsheviks were a professional wrestling tag team in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) from late 1987 until the spring of 1990. The team was composed of Nikolai Volkoff and Boris Zhukov portraying a pair of Soviet Communist bad guys. Volk ...
by the Czechs. Meanwhile, on May 27, 1918, Colonel A.N. Grishin-Almazov, who undertook his best efforts to unite the officer resistance against
the Bolsheviks The Bolsheviks were a professional wrestling tag team in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) from late 1987 until the spring of 1990. The team was composed of Nikolai Volkoff and Boris Zhukov portraying a pair of Soviet Communist bad guys. Volk ...
, ordered a full scale uprising, which proved to be a total success, as the Whites managed to defeat the Reds and cleared many Siberian cities of their presence. On June 13, 1918, colonel A.N. Grishin-Almazov issued an order to form the West Siberian Army (later to become Siberian Army). In a matter of months, he managed to accumulate over 10,000 volunteers across Siberia and Urals, which allowed some of the Siberian ministers headed by P.V. Vologodsky to come back.


Provisional Siberian Government

On June 23, 1918, Vologodsky formed a new Provisional Siberian Government instead of the previously elected Government of Autonomous Siberia, which had virtually no influence and authority whatsoever. He took the chair and ministry of foreign affairs assisted by many of his former member ministers I.I. Serebrennikov, who again became the Minister of Supply, while I.A. Mikhailov was chosen to be the Minister of Finance and M.B. Shatilov – the Minister of Native Affairs. Colonel A.N. Grishin-Almazov was appointed Minister of Defence. Under the control of the regionalists, there was a short-term state formation, so-called "
Siberian Republic A Siberian Republic (russian: Сибирская Республика, translit=Sibirskaya Respublika) is an idea of making Siberia an independent republic. The argument for an independent republic is that Siberia makes up 77% of Russian territ ...
". On July 11, 1918, the Provisional Siberian Government published the Declaration, declaring its authority over territory of Siberia, and restoration of the Russian state as the ultimate goal of the Siberian government. Decision on the status of Siberia was left to the future All-Russian and Siberian constituent assemblies. On November 3, 1918, the Provisional Siberian Government sacrificed own independence for the sake of consolidation of all possible forces to fight against the Bolsheviks. Thereby it merged with 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 ...
, forming
Provisional All-Russian Government 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 ...
.


Modern Movements

In 2014, an artist, Artyom Loskutov, wrote in his blog about an idea to create a
Siberian Republic A Siberian Republic (russian: Сибирская Республика, translit=Sibirskaya Respublika) is an idea of making Siberia an independent republic. The argument for an independent republic is that Siberia makes up 77% of Russian territ ...
within the Russian Federation and attempted to organize a mock demonstration called
Monstration A monstration is a public performance similar to a demonstration but intended as creative performance art, often parodying a serious demonstration. The term was coined by Russian artist Ivan Dyrkin in 2004, and the phenomenon has been most popula ...
for Siberian
Federalisation Federalism is a combined or compound mode of government that combines a general government (the central or "federal" government) with regional governments (Province, provincial, State (sub-national), state, Canton (administrative division), can ...
to take place on August 17 in
Novosibirsk Novosibirsk (, also ; rus, Новосиби́рск, p=nəvəsʲɪˈbʲirsk, a=ru-Новосибирск.ogg) is the largest city and administrative centre of Novosibirsk Oblast and Siberian Federal District in Russia. As of the Russian Census ...
. Russian authorities banned the march and attempted to censor media coverage about the event, citing a recently passed law against "calls to mass unrest, extremist activities or participation in illegal public events." The purpose of the protest was to "ridicule the
Kremlin The Kremlin ( rus, Московский Кремль, r=Moskovskiy Kreml', p=ˈmɐˈskofskʲɪj krʲemlʲ, t=Moscow Kremlin) is a fortified complex in the center of Moscow founded by the Rurik dynasty, Rurik dynasty. It is the best known of th ...
's claimed hypocrisy in the
Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation In February and March 2014, Russia invaded and subsequently annexed the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine. This event took place in the aftermath of the Revolution of Dignity and is part of the wider Russo-Ukrainian War. The events in Kyiv th ...
and to raise the issue of Siberia's delayed development". He claimed that
Western Siberia Western Siberia or West Siberia (russian: Западная Сибирь, Zapadnaya Sibir'; kk, Батыс Сібір) is a part of the larger region of Siberia that is mostly located in the Russian Federation. It lies between the Ural region an ...
provides most of Russia's oil and gas, but the region gets very little benefit since the taxes go to
Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
.


See also

*
Autonomous administrative divisions of Russia Two types of subdivisions of Russia uses the designation "autonomous": *autonomous okrug (administrative division) * autonomous oblast (federal subject) The republics of Russia, have a degree of autonomy, but are not labeled so. See also *Autonom ...
*
List of active separatist movements in Asia This is a list of active separatist movements in Asia. Separatism can include autonomism and secessionism, despite the fact that independence is the primary goal of many separatist movements. Many separatist movements arise as a result of religi ...
*
Secession in Russia The dissolution of Russia is a hypothetical unraveling of the Russian Federation from a unified state to various potential independent successor states. The term is used in academic literature and journalism in discussions about Russian statehoo ...


References


Bibliography

* Anisimova, Alla; Echevskaia, Olga (2016). "Reading Post-Soviet (Trans)formations of Siberian Identity through Biographical Narrative," REGION: Regional Studies of Russia, Eastern Europe, and Central Asia 5, no. 2. pp. 127–148. * * Balzer, M. M. (1999). The Tenacity of Ethnicity: A Siberian Saga in Global Perspective. Princeton University Press * Curtis, K. (1985). The Soviet State: The Domestic Roots of Soviet Foreign Policy. Royal Institute of International Affairs. * von Hagen, Mark (2007). "Federalisms and Pan-movements: Re-imagining Empire," in Russian Empire: Space, People, Power, ed. Jane Burbank, Mark von Hagen and Anatoli Remnev. Indiana University Press, 494–510. * Hanson, Gary (1974) "Siberian Regionalism in the 1860s," Topic 27: 62–75. * Kovalaschina, Elena (2007). "The Historical and Cultural Ideals of the Siberian Oblastnichestvo," Sibirica 6, no. 2: 87–119. * von Mohrenschildt, Dimitri (1981). Toward a United States of Russia: Plans and Projects of Federal Reconstruction of Russia in the Nineteenth Century. Fairleigh Dickinson University Press. * * * Tishkov, Valery (1997). Ethnicity, Nationalism and Conflict in and after the Soviet Union: The Mind Aflame. Sage Publications Ltd. * {{cite book , surname=Watrous , given=Stephen , chapter=The Regionalist Conception of Siberia, 1860 to 1920 , year=1993 , title=Between Heaven and Hell: The Myth of Siberia in Russian Culture , editor1=Galya Diment , editor2=Yuri Slezkine , place=New York , publisher=St. Martin's Press , pages=113–132 , isbn=978-0-312-06072-5


External links


The A.S. Pushkin Tomsk Regional Universal Scientific Library: Siberian Oblastnichestvo. Chronicle



V.V. Zhuravlev (2000) The National Symbols of the "White" Russia

Siberian regionalism: a growing threat to Moscow
at Jamestown.org History of Siberia Separatism in Russia Post–Russian Empire states Siberian nationalism