The Far Eastern Republic. History of the buffer state

During the civil war, a number of state formations arose on the shards of the Russian Empire. Some of them were relatively viable and existed for decades, and some still exist (Poland, Finland). The term of life of others was limited to several months, or even days. One of these state formations, which arose on the ruins of the empire, was the Far Eastern Republic (DDA).

Background of the DDA

At the beginning of 1920 in the Far East of the former Russian Empire was a rather difficult situation. At that time, it was on this territory that the most important events of the Civil War took place. During the offensive of the Workers 'and Peasants' Red Army (RKKA) and internal insurrection, the so-called Russian state of Kolchak collapsed, with its capital in Omsk, previously controlling most of Siberia and the Far East. The remnants of this formation took the name of the Russian Eastern outskirts and concentrated their forces in the eastern Transbaikalia, with the center in the city of Chita under the leadership of the ataman Grigory Semenov.

In Vladivostok, the uprising supported by the Bolsheviks won. But the Soviet government did not hasten to annex this region directly to the RSFSR, since there was a threat from a third force in the person of Japan, which officially expressed its neutrality. At the same time, it was building up its military presence in the region, making it clear that if the Soviet state moves further east, it will openly enter into armed confrontation with the Red Army.

The birth of the Far Eastern Republic

In order to avoid a direct clash between the forces of the Red Army and the Japanese army, who briefly seized power in Irkutsk in January 1920, the Socialist Revolutionary Center already at that time advanced the idea of creating a buffer state in the Far East. Naturally, he took the lead in it. The Bolsheviks also liked this idea, but at the head of the new state they saw only the government from among the members of the RCP (b). Under the pressure of superior forces, the Political Center was forced to cede and hand over power in Irkutsk to the Military Revolutionary Committee.

The formation of the Far Eastern Republic as a buffer state was especially zealously pursued by the chairman of the Irkutsk revolutionary committee, Alexander Krasnoshchekov. To solve the Far Eastern question in March 1920, a special bureau was created under the RCP (B.). In addition to Krasnoshchekov, the most prominent figures of the Dal'buro were Alexander Shiryamov and Nikolai Goncharov. It was with their active assistance on April 6, 1920 in Verkhneudinsk (now Ulan-Ude) was created a new state formation - the Far Eastern Republic.

The People's Revolutionary Army

The creation of the Far Eastern Republic would have been impossible without active support from Soviet Russia. In May 1920, she officially recognized the new public education. Soon the central Moscow government began to provide the DDA with all-round assistance, both political and economic. But the main thing at this stage of the development of the state was military support from the RSFSR. This type of assistance consisted, first of all, in the creation on the basis of the East Siberian Soviet Army of the armed forces of the FER - the People's Revolutionary Army (NRA).

The creation of a buffer state selected the main trump card from Japan, which officially expressed its neutrality, and it was forced to begin withdrawing its formations from the Far East from July 3, 1920. This allowed the NRA to achieve significant success in the fight against hostile forces in the region, and thereby expand the territory of the Far Eastern Republic.

October 22, the People's Revolutionary Army was occupied by Chita, hastily abandoned by the ataman Semenov. Shortly thereafter, the FER government moved from Verkhneudinsk to this city.

After the Japanese left Khabarovsk, in the autumn of 1920 a conference of representatives of the Trans-Baikal, Primorsky and Amur regions was held in Chita, at which a decision was made to enter these territories into a single state - the FER. Thus, by the end of 1920, the Far Eastern Republic controlled much of the Far East.

Device DVR

In the period of its existence, the Far Eastern Republic had a different administrative and territorial structure. Initially, it included five areas: Transbaikal, Kamchatka, Sakhalin, Amur and Primorye.

As for the authorities themselves, at the stage of statehood formation the role of the DDA management was assumed by the constituent assembly elected in January 1921. It adopted the Constitution, according to which the People's Assembly was considered the highest authority. It was chosen by a general democratic vote. Also, the Constituent Assembly appointed the Government, headed by A. Krasnoshchekov, whom at the end of 1921 N. Matveyev replaced.

The White Guard Mutiny

On January 26, 1921, the White Guard forces, with the support of Japan, overthrew the Bolshevik government in Vladivostok and thereby withdrew the region from the FER. On the territory of the Primorsky region, the so-called Priamursky Zemsky Region was formed. As a result of the further offensive of the White forces, by the end of 1921 the Khabarovsk had been torn away from the FER.

But with the appointment of Blucher, the military minister of business in the Far Eastern Republic went much better. A counteroffensive was organized, during which the White Guards suffered a heavy defeat, lost Khabarovsk, and by the end of October 1922 they were completely ousted from the Far East.

The annexation of the Far Eastern Republic to the Soviet state

Thus, the Far Eastern Republic (1920-1922) fully fulfilled its mission as a buffer state, the formation of which did not give Japan a formal reason to enter into an open armed confrontation with the Red Army. As a result of the expulsion of the White Guard troops from the Far East, the continued existence of the FER was inexpedient. The question of joining this state education to the RSFSR has ripened, which was done on November 15, 1922 on the basis of the appeal of the National Assembly. The Far Eastern People's Republic ceased to exist.